Fantasy
by Blase Moon
Summary: When Naruto and Sasuke are warped into an alternate reality while battling Madara, they find themselves forced to settle their differences and cooperate in order to escape. But just how much will the events that transpire whilst trapped change the way they see each other? AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hey everyone! Wow, it really has been a while since I've posted anything here because of my increasingly busy life -.- I've had this written for a while now but I haven't yet gotten through with the second chapter so I really can't make any promises about my updating plans. Anyway, here is the first installment of _Fantasy ;)_

**Disclaimer**: No I don't own Naruto, if that wasn't already obvious.

**Warnings**: Eventual homoerotic scenes that will very likely get graphic and detailed, cursing, and a bit of violence.

* * *

Naruto drew in a particularity harsh breath as he took another look at the battlefield before him.

Surrounding him in his immediate vicinity were the tattered forms of his former team members, including a heavily panting Sasuke and an unconscious Obito. He could just make out the outlines of the rest of the shinobi alliance gathered at the far ends of the battlefield.

"Sasuke, what's our next move?" Naruto asked, carefully eyeing Madara's malevolent face as he prepared to make the next offensive attack.

His raven haired comrade momentarily flicked his Sharingan-enhanced gaze over to him, eyes lingering on Naruto for all of two seconds before warily returning to their enemy. "Give me a few moments to formulate a proper plan first, dobe," Sasuke responded, slight irritation cutting into his voice while he struggled to maintain acute awareness of Madara's every move.

Naruto swallowed the urge to retaliate Sasuke's use of the insulting name he'd made a habit of calling him whenever the desire befell him, realizing that he must be breaking both his and the Uchiha's concentration on the enemy. Mentally punching himself for allowing his mind to wander in the midst of such a deadly environment, the blonde turned back to Madara, almost missing Sasuke's condescending 'tch' in the process. Almost.

"Would you just tell me what to do already!" he hissed, this time his voice sounding a lot louder than before.

Sasuke opened his mouth, surely in an attempt to berate him somehow, but the words died in his throat when a much deeper baritone beat him to it.

"Impatient, are we? In that case you won't be disappointed to hear that I've finally completed all of the preparations to launch my Infinite Tsukoyomi!" Madara declared with a malicious smile, arms raising up above him, bringing Naruto's ocean blue eyes to attention.

"Naruto, don't!"

By the time he heard Sasuke's warning voice beside him, Naruto had already fixated his gaze on the looming moon above his head.

* * *

Naruto awoke to the sound of birds chirping peacefully and the ambrosial scent of spring flowers all around him. Forgetting about where he was supposed to be at the moment and basking in what was surely some wonderful dream, the blonde kept his eyes closed, allowing a tranquil smile to overtake half of his face.

It took him a full minute to remember about the war, smile instantly dissipating and limbs tensing up almost painfully by his sides. Why was he lying in some kind of heavenly meadow and not viciously fighting the strongest enemy he'd ever confronted? The last thing he recalled before waking up again was looking up at the moon... Wait a minute, am I dead? Is this the afterlife?

He experienced what most certainly would've been the most horrifying experience of his life (or maybe afterlife) in his moment of overwhelming panic, until something swift and solid knocked him into complete consciousness, the embarrassingly high-pitched yelp that ensued not helping matters at all as he sprang up in terror. However, as his new and vengeful stroke of bad luck would have it, the top of his head once again collided painfully with something quite hard on his way up, knocking him down all over again and producing yet another, if slightly more controlled, yelp of pain.

When he was able, Naruto cracked his eyelids open only to be blinded by an immense amount of sunlight, unable to see much of anything for a few seconds. He moved his hand up to his forehead tentatively, wincing when he applied a slight pressure to the welt that was already forming there. Judging by the amount of pain he was in, he definitely wasn't dead. But if not, then where the hell was he?

"Usuratonkachi!"

Naruto snapped his head toward the ever-familiar voice, and after a few bleary tries, was finally able to zero in on a head full of silky, obsidian hair.

"Sasuke? What the hell just happened?" he demanded, once again springing up to full stature and hurrying over to his crouched comrade. He felt relief wash over him as his mind took into account the Uchiha's presence in this strange place, feeling some of the tension seep out of his muscles in spite of himself. Naruto had no idea to what extent Sasuke's terms with him were, the blonde slowly realized, momentary doubt stopping him just before he was within arm's length of the raven.

Sasuke may have come back to help him fight Madara, but for all he knew the raven had no intention of becoming friends again and still hated him for whatever reason. In the time they had spent cooperating on the battlefield, Naruto had been too elated that Team 7 was once again fighting together to really think about what would happen after the fighting ceased and he and Sasuke no longer had a common enemy that would keep them working together. In fact, now that he did have the time to ponder such a thing Naruto was almost compelled to take a step backward. Sasuke had always been touchy about his personal space, and he was pretty sure that he had gotten a little too close, especially since he didn't know where exactly he stood with him.

However, stubborn person he was, Naruto remained rooted to his spot, watching with now wary eyes as the Uchiha lifted himself off the ground and stood a few centimeters taller than him. Naruto found this tiny fact of life incredibly irritating at that moment, almost growling because he hadn't quite caught up to his old teammate in that area either.

Sure, Sasuke was a few months older than him, but it was still kind of infuriating that he had to add something else to the list of things Sasuke had beat him at. Which made no sense at all because height wasn't something either of them could control; although in Naruto's mind everything in his life had turned into a competition with the raven since the day they'd met.

He was pretty sure Sasuke himself hadn't been aware of his mostly one-sided rivalry with him until they had been put into Team 7 together as genin.

That part of his life seemed so far away now with midnight eyes staring into his deep blues, his inner self sighing in defeat. He was over being unreasonably immature about anything that had to do with Sasuke now, and he almost smiled when he thought back to all the times he had fought to retrieve his friend and bring him back to Konoha. He had reached a conclusion about the bond he had with the Uchiha a long time ago, and not even Sasuke blatantly telling him that he wanted to kill him had convinced him otherwise. Besides, after being so persistent before, how could he stop now? Sooner or later Sasuke would have to accept the fact that they were friends, Naruto would make sure of it.

"Funny, I was about to ask you the same question," Sasuke muttered, a slender hand cupping his nose after what seemed like minutes to Naruto because of all the thinking he'd done (when in reality only about three seconds had gone by).

"What do you mean? Hey wait a second, were you the one that punched me awake just now, teme?" he asked, pointing an accusing finger at the pale teen.

Sasuke eyed him and seemed to settle for an annoyed scowl before answering him. "I'd been awake for about an hour before that, but I figured it was time to wake you up when you started making a bunch of moronic faces in your sleep, and seeing how you wouldn't wake up with a simple shake I figured punching you would do the trick. It did." Sasuke's scowl then looked more like a smug smirk, although the hand still holding his nose did a good job of hiding the majority of the expression.

Naruto glared at him. "Teme, there are plenty of other non-painful ways of waking people up. Why do you always have to be so violent?" he informed the still smirking Uchiha. Gods he hated that smirk.

"Says the idiot that head-butted my face afterwards."

"That was your fault for startling me... Uh, Sasuke, are you bleeding?"

Naruto decided it would be best if he investigated, eliminating what could've been a response from his friend and closing the original gap between them, batting away the obstructing hand that was covering Sasuke's face. He observed the steady flow of blood trickling down Sasuke's nose and was about to wipe some of it away with his own hand when the raven's voice stopped him.

"What the hell are you doing usuratonkachi?" he asked, clearly uneasy with the hand that still held onto his wrist and the one that was just about to further invade his personal space by touching his face.

Naruto gave him an unimpressed look, letting go of the other's arm and backing up a step. "Ya know, for being an S-class shinobi you sure are one delicate piece of work. I was only trying to get rid of some of the blood. By the looks of it, that nosebleed won't be stopping anytime soon unless we deal with it properly. I wonder if there are any medical ninja that would be willing to help us out here?" Naruto wondered out loud, his eyes moving to scan the area around them. He could just make out the edge of some kind of forest, the green tops of the trees made visible by the bright sunlight.

"Calm down dobe. My nose isn't even broken and for all we know there isn't a village near here for miles," Sasuke rationalized, turning to scope out the area as well since he trusted his eyes more than Naruto's.

"It's still bleeding a lot though," Naruto pointed out. "Besides, we can't stay in this field forever. We'll have to find civilization sooner or later unless we want to survive by eating flowers and drinking water straight from the creek."

After a few strained moments of nothing but silence, Sasuke finally nodded in agreement. "It wouldn't be smart to stick around this area for too long when we could be searching for some kind of settlement elsewhere. We should get moving and hope we find a place to stay before nightfall." The Uchiha didn't look happy that he was acknowledging Naruto's plan as a good one, but as far as Naruto was concerned, this was a win-win situation. If they found a village then maybe the local residents could shed some light on what had happened to them; and Sasuke was still being relatively civil with him, which was a miracle in itself considering recent circumstances.

"Alright then! Let's get going," Naruto said cheerfully, patting some stray dirt from his sleeve and taking a step forward before being stopped again by a hand on his shoulder.

"What now teme?"

"It's in both of our interests for you to stay alive, so I suggest you walk behind me unless you want to trigger any potential traps that might be surrounding this field."

"Why should it make any difference who takes the front? I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm a ninja too, Sasuke," Naruto frowned, annoyed. Even after all their fighting together Sasuke still seemed to think he was somehow incompetent. What a bastard.

"That's not what I meant, moron. My Sharingan will alert us of any enemies that might be lurking in our vicinity before they have a chance to ambush us," Sasuke scoffed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Naruto's apparent offense.

Naruto blinked. "Oh yeah. Well I guess you do have a point," he conceded, the puzzle pieces finally clicking into place in his mind. It was actually kind of embarrassing that he'd forgotten about Sasuke's unique eye power.

"Hn." Sasuke moved past him and strode ahead at a steady pace, gait as agile as ever as his legs moved swiftly without waiting for the blonde to catch up.

"I forgot how much of a jerk you can be," Naruto muttered to himself, folding his arms tightly across his chest and jogging slightly in order to catch up to the Uchiha.

They kept up their calculated pace until they reached the end of the meadow, stopping just outside the thick array of trees.

"Well I guess it's safe to say we weren't in any danger over there," Naruto said, shoving his hands into his pockets while he talked beside his friend.

"Don't be so naïve, there could be a countless amount of enemies hiding further into the woods," Sasuke said, never moving his spinning red eyes from the tall trees.

"You're being way too over-cautious, I think if someone had deliberately thrown us here they would've shown themselves by now or at least attacked already. We should just keep moving and see what we can find," Naruto said.

He supposed it was only natural for Sasuke, a previously wanted missing-nin, to be on high alert all of the time. Naruto was pretty sure Sasuke hadn't had a permanent domicile or safe place to rest since he'd left Konoha. Sure, he'd lived with Orochimaru for the majority of that time, but Naruto would hardly call the snake's hideout a 'safe place'.

"Whatever. If you want to die that's your problem," Sasuke muttered disdainfully, jumping up onto a tree branch and turning around to face him. "Are you coming or what?"

Naruto smiled, a mischievous gleam in his eye. "I bet I can outrun you on the tree-tops," he gloated, jumping up to land beside Sasuke and giving him a smirk of his own. "Whoever finds a village first has to buy the other lunch."

With that Naruto took off into the forest, taking advantage of the Uchiha's momentary consternation and not looking back as he jumped. Okay, so maybe he wasn't completely over his rivalry with Sasuke; but he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to both show the Uchiha up and earn some free ramen in the process as well.

* * *

"Tch, idiot," Sasuke muttered to himself as he watched Naruto disappear into the woods. The blonde hadn't changed at all.

Sasuke noticed that many of Naruto's old habits from their childhood had remained intact while fighting alongside him, and being an idiot was certainly among them, as he had just witnessed. Truth be told, he hadn't expected so many similarities between the Uzumaki's older and younger self. Sasuke knew for a fact that he himself had gone through many changes since his days in Konoha, which is what had led him to believe that his once friend had gone through a similar metamorphosis.

But ever since the day he had seen him at Orochimaru's hideout, the realization that the cruel world they both lived in hadn't been able to dampen Naruto's spirits or fiery personality really rubbed him the wrong way. Somehow, the only person that had ever understood his pain of being alone had been able to attain a kind of peace and joy that Sasuke had no way of accessing. He had been too focused on his goal at the time to really see anything for what it was.

Now that the Uchiha had decided to relieve himself from such a pointless burden, he began to see how truly blind he had been. After learning the truth about Itachi and Konoha from Obito, he had been so lost that all he could see was rage; dark, consuming black rage. And yet, even through all the paralyzing and seemingly perpetual darkness, Naruto had been the only perceptible light he had come across. It hadn't mattered that Sasuke's mind had only been capable of seeing the blonde as an obstacle that needed to be obliterated; his light was so resonating and absolute that it blocked Sasuke's thoughts completely, not allowing a single logical idea to resurface itself.

Despite his better knowledge, Sasuke went after Naruto anyway, shutting his eyes and reveling in the quietness that came whenever the dobe wasn't around. He didn't really know where he was going since he couldn't quite place where exactly he and Naruto had ended up.

Strangely enough, Sasuke knew he should be feeling something akin to panic because of what he last remembered during their fight with Madara, but the feeling never came and he was left feeling somewhat empty instead. He wasn't used to being able to run around freely without having to concern himself about being seen by the wrong people; although he supposed that even after his large contribution to the war, some people would still be uneasy or apprehensive about letting him live. He had done some irreparable things in the past, and he knew better than anyone that some things just couldn't be erased, no matter how hard you tried.

Not that he cared. Sasuke didn't regret a single thing he'd done other than going after his brother; not even after all that had happened after speaking with the previous Hokages and coming to the conclusion that he'd rather protect Konoha than destroy it.

Not only that, but he still had yet to face the toughest consequence of that very decision: returning to Konoha and settling there. He knew perfectly well just how embittered some of his past comrades felt towards him-not to mention how the rest of the village must feel. He'd done a good amount of damage during his violent past, after all. But Sasuke really had no intention to make it up to anyone. He'd never been one to care what others thought of him, why should he start now?

At the muffled sound of rustling below him, Sasuke stopped in his tracks, instincts quickly taking over as he pressed his back against the trunk of the tree he'd just landed on and peered down between the branches.

He had just been about to skewer whoever it was on the ground with a kunai when he caught sight of a peek of unmistakably blonde hair beneath the thick leaves of the trees.

"Oi! Sasuke! Where the hell are you? I spotted what looked like buildings just north of here!"

Sasuke resisted the urge to throw the kunai anyway and pushed himself off the tree, landing agilely beside his new companion without so much as a sound.

"Why would I be traveling on the ground when there are clearly enough trees around here to last a lifetime?" he asked when Naruto finally noticed him standing there, the slightly alarmed look in the blonde's eyes vanishing at the sight of him.

"Well you were taking forever, so I figured you were just walking or something," Naruto shrugged, not looking particularity bothered by Sasuke's somewhat sarcastic tone of voice.

He raised an eyebrow. "Just what are you talking about? I've been moving through the trees this whole time."

"Are you serious? I think an old lady could have passed you at the pace you were going. Were you daydreaming or something?" Naruto snorted, apparently finding great amusement in his new speculation.

Sasuke thought about the blonde's question, frowning when he realized Naruto hadn't been all that far from the truth. "Just thinking," was Sasuke's noncommittal reply, the raven taking care to keep his face stoic and indifferent. Sometimes he swore Naruto could read him like an open book, even when the Uchiha made an honest effort to conceal any and all emotions from his profile.

On a list of bad things, Sasuke was sure this fact definitely took the cake.

"I thought so. Anyway, I think I saw a village not too far-off from here, and, unless my memory went haywire because of whatever happened that landed us in that weird meadow, the buildings looked somewhat familiar," Naruto went on to say, pointing in the general direction of what Sasuke now assumed was a village or a settlement of some sort as well.

"Okay. So if you're familiar with the buildings then which village is it?" Sasuke asked. He felt somewhat uneasy at the thought that they might be forced to enter a village in which he was still not welcome. After all, none of the terrain seemed even remotely familiar to him, which meant they couldn't have been near Konohagakure (not to mention Naruto would have recognized the area right away if that had been the case).

Walking in without properly assessing their situation would only make things worse. Sasuke had never been one to take large risks without a very good reason, and despite their somewhat precarious circumstances he didn't consider his or Naruto's life to be in any imminent peril.

"That's the thing actually. It looks a lot like Konoha, although there are some significant differences between them."

After taking a pause to ponder this, a crease appeared between Naruto's brows and a tan hand came up to scratch at his head. "Shit. Sasuke, do you think that maybe whatever happened to us with Madara happened a long time ago and for some inexplicable reason we only just now woke up from it?"

"It could be a possibility," Sasuke nodded after a long period of mutual silence, eyeing his companion thoughtfully.

Naruto's eyes grew wide at his response, his entire face lighting up with something not unlike panic. "What! How... How is something like that even possible?"

"Relax dobe, it's only a theory. Besides, when it comes to Madara, I don't think we should rule anything out as a possible situation. It would explain the changes in the village and the surrounding area, but we don't have enough evidence to start jumping to conclusions yet. Perhaps when we go in we can gather more information from the inhabitants and explore our options from there."

Even with two strong points supporting the idea, there were too many things he and Naruto didn't know yet to start panicking. Sasuke himself knew better than anyone the vast power the Sharingan could hold; especially when handled by extremely skilled warriors such as the great Uchiha Madara. Each pair of eyes usually possessed a unique power of some sort, and somehow Sasuke doubted that Madara's were any different. Perhaps he had the ability to warp people through time and that was how he and Naruto had gotten here. One way or another, Sasuke knew that the cause would only present more bad news for them.

"So that's it then. We have no time to waste, Konoha is just a few miles from here. Let's go Sasuke." Naruto waved his arm forward in a gesture to follow him, his newfound vigor quite literally appearing out of nowhere.

"I see you're as spontaneous as ever," Sasuke muttered, not meaning for Naruto to hear his almost inaudible remark and completely missing the small smile the blonde was now sporting as he turned around and sped off into the trees.

Sasuke followed him with a huff, finding himself inexplicably irritated with the fact that he kept having to run after Naruto like he was some kind of lost puppy scrambling after its mother.

Sasuke was sure five minutes hadn't gone by yet when he nearly collided with Naruto's back because of how suddenly he halted in front of a very distinct dirt path. Both Naruto's body and a few thick trees obstructed his line of sight and prevented him from seeing whatever it was that had made his companion stop so abruptly.

"What the hell is it Naruto?" Sasuke practically growled.

Just when he was about to get violent, Naruto finally moved out of the way, albeit slowly and in a bit of a daze, but once the blonde was completely out of the way, Sasuke was finally able to understand why he'd reacted in such a way.

Right there, in giant bold kanji, read the words: 'Welcome to Konohagakure'. Sasuke stared at the large, imposing gates silently, momentarily ignoring Naruto's presence beside him and taking his time to incorporate this new load of information into his assessment of their situation.

In terms of proving Naruto's earlier theory correct, this was definitely a step in the right direction. There were still alternative possibilities, but the chance they would be correct had gone from likely to very slim in a matter of minutes. The way Sasuke saw it, there was really nothing else that could plausibly explain the recent series of events that had transpired.

"This can't be true. This isn't true. We can't have been gone for this long, it just isn't possible!" Naruto was slowly losing his cool on the road beside him, his usually steady hands shakily clutching at his yellow hair while his oceanic eyes bulged with incredulity.

Overall, it wasn't a pretty sight. And certainly not an expression that belonged on the perpetually positive face Sasuke had come to subconsciously memorize over the years.

So naturally, instead of voicing his concerns-no, not concerns, Sasuke refused to believe such a feeling was possible for him to exude- he went for his usual physical form of communication, smacking the blonde dobe upside the head without an ounce of hesitance or remorse.

When that didn't work he growled, shifting his legs into a wider position and taking a swift step forward to wedge his right leg between the shaking pair before him as he roughly tackled Naruto to the ground; barley noticing the harsh cracking of the Uzumaki's head against the dirt as they went down. Blue eyes widened suddenly at the impact, a spasmodic jolt running through Naruto's body underneath him as his nervous system finally registered that he was in pain.

"S-Sasuke? I think I may have just had another panic attack... AND FUCKING OUCH! Where the hell did you get the idea that trying to beat my brains out through the back of my skull would make me feel any better!" Naruto spluttered, hands flying up to gingerly feel at his damaged cranium while simultaneously giving Sasuke a piercing glare.

There was the Naruto he knew. Now this, he could deal with.

Sasuke partially relieved Naruto from his body weight as he pushed himself up with his arms and got into a sitting position, knees straddling either side of the other's midsection. "Hn, I think you need to have brains first in order for anybody to be able to beat them out of you, dobe," he smirked snidely. Then, he raised a black eyebrow as something Naruto had said sprang into mind. "Another panic attack? You mean you've experienced one before?"

Sasuke could tell Naruto was about to say something nasty in return, until he heard his last question, that is. "You seem to have that effect on me," he muttered almost unintelligibly, a solemn pout turning up his lips as he refused to make eye contact with him.

Sasuke decided it would be better for both of them if he didn't allow his mind to linger on that particular sentence for a while, so instead of further questioning the blonde he simply grunted and slid off the other teen's squirming frame. With a look that clearly said 'I'll chidori you if you say anything', he offered his hand, not really knowing why he was doing it since the idiot deserved what he'd gotten for allowing his emotions to take over. He supposed it was out of pity for the Naruto's reaction to what must've been a crushing revelation. 'Or maybe it's because you still care about him as a friend and a teammate.'

Sasuke blanched at the unwarranted voice in his head, his already half-scowling face going completely rigid when he realized what those words actually meant in the grand scheme of things. He noticed his mistake when Naruto gave him a strange look as he pulled him up, the blonde apparently having felt Sasuke's entire arm stiffen as a result of his internal shock.

"If you're that grumpy about helping me you shouldn't have bothered in the first place, teme," Naruto scoffed once he was up on his feet again, thankfully not picking up on the real reason behind Sasuke's sudden acerbity and brushing off his change in demeanor as part of his usual astringent character.

"We should get inside," Sasuke said sternly, ignoring the other's words and turning back to send a contemplative glance at the proudly standing gates of Konoha. Now was not the time for him to be dwelling on scattered thoughts; for all he knew they were both still in danger from whatever jutsu had been responsible for landing them here, making it just that much more imperative for them to find out new information as soon as possible.

"Yeah... Right." A small amount of Naruto's previous panic notably returned at the reminder; his once slack fingers wounding up into taut fists by his sides and a slight tremor running down his frame before he steeled himself. Along with a calming intake of breath, Naruto squared his shoulders and resolutely began walking towards the front of the gates where Sasuke waited patiently. "We have to face this sooner or later, so why not sooner?" he murmured almost to himself, clenching and unclenching his fists the whole way to the gates.

At the sight of Naruto struggling to come to terms with their situation, Sasuke felt that same pang of need to do something to fix the usually optimistic dobe; to relieve him of whatever emotional turmoil was burdening him.

What. The fuck.

_Wearenotfriendswearenotfriendswearenotfriendswearenotfriendswearenotfriendswearenotfriends_

Sasuke repeated the phrase over in his mind for what seemed like a million times before a small tap on his left shoulder alerted him of his withdrawn state of mind.

If he had been anyone but an Uchiha, he most certainly would have jumped, or-gods forbid- even made some sort of involuntary squeak. But he was an Uchiha, and Uchiha's did not show emotions unless deliberately done so. Much less squeak in unmanly manners.

"Earth to Sasuke. Why do you keep spacing out like that? It's creeping me out teme," Naruto said, waving a hand in front of his midnight eyes.

"Hn." There was no way in hell Sasuke was going to tell him about his rebellious thoughts. Especially since the blonde idiot was the main reason they were even surfacing in the first place.

"Shoulda known that stick up your ass wouldn't let you give me a real answer for once," Naruto pouted. "You really need to get laid or something."

Sasuke snapped his eyes over to the still rambling blonde, warning him to not go any further with his imposing death glare. "The last thing I need is for you of all people to be giving me advice on my love life," he sneered.

"Don't you need to have one first teme? You haven't even looked at any girls since the day you were born!"

"And what the hell would you know about sex if you can't even get a girl to look at you?" Sasuke snapped back at him, annoyance starting to boil itself over and take ahold of him.

Naruto opened and closed his mouth without forming any actual words, his jaw flexing indignantly as he sent his own piercing glare at the brooding raven. "As if you would know! Three entire years passed before you stepped foot in the village again after you left; you have no idea how much has changed about me in that time, so just shut up Sasuke!" he snarled, a tan hand shooting out to clutch Sasuke's gray shirt, pools of angry blue suddenly dangerously close to his face.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was probably in the midst of setting some sort of record when he waited for the seething wave of anger to come only to be hit with a wave of clarity in its stead (despite the fact that his shirt was being roughly handled by the person that was literally getting in his face and invading his precious personal space). Although he had pretended everything was fine again, Naruto still held three years' worth of remorse towards him, and he was having a hard time trying to suppress it. Most likely his original plan had been to hold off any reproachfulness until he was sure Sasuke wouldn't just up an leave again.

At first, Sasuke thought the blonde's thought process to be ridiculous, but as Naruto continued to pour his heart out about just how abandoned Sasuke had left him feeling, the Uchiha realized that there might have been some logical reasoning behind it after all. He would be the first person to agree that back then he had been in a very precarious mental state, having had so many lies thrown at him only to be identified as false later on. In all honesty, he hadn't been all that sure about his decision to aid and protect the village until fighting with Naruto again and realizing just how much he missed his old life.

Along with realizing just how far Naruto was willing to sacrifice his own conflicting feelings in order to insure that Sasuke would stay this time around, the raven came to understand some of the magnitude in which his actions had damaged said blonde ninja.

Sasuke wasn't an idiot, he had both been aware of and felt the deep connection that had run through him and Naruto when they'd had their battle in the Valley of the End all those years ago. He knew just how important that connection had been for the both of them, and yet, in his pursuit of the strength that would enable him to carry out a vendetta that he later would find out was unjustly placed, he had decided to sever it completely.

But decisions didn't always work out the way he wanted, as he had found out when the new Team 7 had infiltrated Orochimaru's hideout in order to retrieve him. In reality he'd felt the emotional emptiness calmly wash over him at the sight of Sakura, not the slightest ounce of regret or guilt entering him in any which way. But the moment he'd watched Naruto burst into the crater his explosion had created, that calm was promptly pulverized and flung out the window and had been replaced with a harsh beating in his chest that refused to slow down or even lessen it's intensity.

Sasuke had written it off as his own failure to completely cut off all emotion associated with the blonde at the time, but the real reason for that feeling had slowly begun to dawn on him as time progressed. Their bond wasn't something either one of them could just forget about by sheer force of will; and once Sasuke thought it over he grudgingly realized he could live with possessing such a vulnerable bond.

The reason? That was simple. Naruto was the most trustworthy person Sasuke had ever met in his entire lifetime, and if there was anyone he could trust to never betray their friendship, it was him. It greatly pained him to admit it, but he highly doubted that he would ever have another friendship that was so deeply rooted and potent.

"I know. And I'm..." Sasuke paused mid-sentence to shiver at the feeling of his pride being flushed down a toilet,"I'm sorry for that."

At first he thought the idiot hadn't heard him correctly, but after a few very long seconds of frozen nothingness, Sasuke almost wanted to swallow his previous words and wish that he'd never opened his mouth in the first place. He watched with baited breath as Naruto's crystalline eyes grew wide; letting out a swift curse when the tan hand that had been previously holding him up by his shirt suddenly let go and allowed gravity to pull the raven down again, making him stumble a couple of inches backwards in order to regain his equilibrium.

"You just-you just apologized to me." Naruto said this as if it were the most miraculous thing he had ever seen or heard of, his jaw now joining his eyes in an attempt to grow inhumanly wider by the second.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched slightly at the sight, a definite frown now adorning his face. Was it really such a surprise that he possessed the capability of muttering a quick 'sorry'?

"HOLY FUCKING RAMEN NOODLES UCHIHA SASUKE JUST APOLOGIZED TO ME!" Sasuke was sure he'd felt his ears explode when Naruto snapped out of his daze and let out a jovial cry to the heavens, arms raised high above his head and the most idiotic grin stretched wide across his face.

'This is the person whose friendship I value the most? What the hell is wrong me?!'

All Sasuke could think about in that moment was how misfortunate and fucked up his life was-not to mention how badly he wanted to take back his words. But then the rambunctious dobe calmed down a bit, taking deep intakes of breath while he tried to sort things out in that tiny brain of his.

"Thank you Sasuke. You literally just made me forgive you with those four simple words," Naruto said in an unexpectedly placid and sincere tone. The stupid grin was replaced with a more convicted upturning of his full lips, a small chuckle slipping past his throat and out into the air for Sasuke to hear.

The raven shut his eyes for a moment before reopening them, his own semblance of a smile (if it could even be called that) now forming. "Stop spouting so much nonsense, of course you haven't forgiven me yet, dobe."

"Hehe, I suppose you're right, teme. But I do forgive you for now at least. Getting you to apologize is just the first step in restoring your side of the friendship," Naruto grinned, fingers lacing themselves behind his head in a relaxed posture.

"Hn, who said we were friends?"

"Bastard. Hence the word 'restoring'. And it's only your side of the friendship that needs work, since I never stopped considering you as my best friend and you are still having your bastard-like issues with admitting the same."

The fact that Naruto seemed to have convinced himself that Sasuke had never actually lost hold of their bond only miffed him a little bit.

Okay, so it pissed him off, but his pride had already taken a huge blow just a few moments ago and he wasn't exactly eager to receive another hit just yet.

"Whatever."

"Che, you're as bipolar as ever I see. So shall we enter now, or are you in the mood for some more drama?"

"Not funny Naruto, considering you were the one making all the ruckus while I had to resist getting my ears blown off," Sasuke muttered, but his words fell upon deaf ears as Naruto took a step forward and started walking to the gate entrance.

"Dobe," he murmured under his breath.

Sasuke followed after him, cooly striding ahead to fall into place beside Naruto, who snuck a not-so discreet glance at him and smiled to himself, apparently content with what he saw.

They both came to a stop once they were an arm's length away from the tall gates. Naruto raised his hand to knock on the wooden surface, but his enclosed fist never got a chance to make contact with the gate as it burst open, effectively knocking the blonde off his feet and launching him a few yards away to land painfully on his ass.

Sasuke almost couldn't help the sadistic smirk that threatened to take over his face, his left eyebrow twitching with amusement as his friend sprung up from his undignified heap on the ground and proceeded to curse loudly at whomever it was that had smacked open the gates.

The only reason the many vulgar variations of 'fuck you' and 'you'd better hope your ass runs away' ceased was because of the sight both elite ninja were presented with once the dust kicked about by Naruto's landing finally settled into the dirt again and revealed two spandex-clad forms standing in the gateway.

"Lee? Gai-sensei?!"

* * *

_So, what did you guys think? I know it's a bit confusing but I promise all shall be resolved in the end! I'll admit it took me a while to edit this on my own but I'm really satisfied with the result (and I do apologize for any typos) and hope I crafted this story to your tastes. Reviews are my fuel and motivation, so don't hesitate to drop any thoughts this chapter left you with! As always, much love for you all :)_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Unbeta-ed so I apologize in advance for any mistakes!

* * *

Naruto felt like his brain had just been simultaneously trampled on by a stampede of elephants, run over by a giant boulder and then sliced into bits with a bunch of razor-sharp shuriken.

"B-But, you guys are supposed to be dead! Or at least super old!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the two spandex-clad aberrations that were standing before him; the expressions on their faces nothing short of dumbfounded as they continued to be bombarded with the bewildered blonde's accusatory remarks.

There was no way Naruto could explain how the beastly duo was still alive and standing there before him and Sasuke, never mind how they had managed to retain their youthfulness (well, Lee had anyway) after all the years Naruto was certain had had to pass in order for the village and surrounding scenery to look so drastically different. Even Sasuke looked considerably alarmed, although his facial expression hadn't technically changed from it's default impassivity.

However, barriers such as those had long since ceased to be an obstacle when it came to reading Sasuke's emotions. Naruto wasn't sure when, although he had his money on the day they fought at the Valley of the End, but somewhere along the line he'd needed little more than to look into the raven's eyes to gauge what his friend was feeling. Naruto knew how much Sasuke valued his ability to block almost everyone out with his very effective mask of indifference; he saw no need to reveal to him that he could now literally read him like an open book. Naruto wasn't about to admit that he didn't get an extreme feeling of smug contentedness every time he got the opportunity to cut the teme's ego down to size, but telling Sasuke that he no longer possessed that ability over everyone would almost certainly be taking things too far. There were very little things the Uchiha valued as much as his emotional privacy, and Naruto was loathe to take that from him. So, instead of coaxing out the true emotions flitting behind his friend's eyes, Naruto chose to turn a blind eye and keep his focus directed at the shocking pair before them.

"Gai-sensei, do you think something strange happened to Naruto-kun during his mission? He is acting a little on the peculiar side today," Lee said from his position next to his teacher, both thick brows raised and partially hidden behind the bangs of his horrific bowl cut.

"Heh?! How dare you! You two are the kings of freaks, especially now that you've somehow managed to find a way to make yourselves immortal!" Naruto squawked indignantly, his entire face twitching irately as he brought his fist up to shake it in front of their faces.

"Now, now my pupils, no need to get so rowdy. Naruto-kun here is only expressing his youth with a flair of creativity- something you could learn from, Lee," Gai spoke up, clearing his throat before speaking in a tone not unlike the bellowing of a large, obstreperous gorilla.

Naruto felt his face twitch again at the jounin's words, barley suppressing the urge to use his still raised fist to smack the bumbling idiot upside the head. Were they even listening to him?

"I believe it's about time you two stopped beating around the bush and gave us a much-needed explanation."

Naruto, Lee and Gai simultaneously turned their heads to face the until then silent Uchiha; all three of them seeming genuinely surprised. Naruto had been so caught up in arguing with the two that he had completely forgotten Sasuke's presence.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that Sasuke-san. As far as I know Lee and I have nothing to hide from you two while enjoying the epitome of our youthful integrity," Gai stated rather passionately, arm swiping out in front of him and coming to a stop just before his enclosed fist could make contact with Sasuke's face. Said raven stared blankly at the jounin's knuckles, a slight flicker of red in his otherwise obsidian black eyes hinting that his patience was being tested beyond his limits of restraint.

"Just spit it out already; how are you two still alive!" Naruto demanded before Sasuke could do or say anything, stepping in between the space that had been created when Gai moved back after finding out he wouldn't be getting his fist-bump any time soon.

All he received were blank stares again which really made him feel on edge about everything. However, he also felt his temper beginning to slip because right now there was nothing Naruto wanted more than a clear and concise response to at least one of his inquisitions, but at this rate he wasn't about to receive one any time soon. This whole situation called for an extreme mental breakdown.

"I'm still not comprehending this situation- which can only mean two things. My mental vitality has decreased somehow since the last time I spoke with you, or both of you young men are in need of some fine rest. I'm betting that the second option is true, so would you like for Lee and I to escort you inside the gates?" Gai asked with a gallant flair, his ever-present cheeriness overflowing as he gave him and Sasuke a thumbs-up.

Before Naruto could try and attack him, Sasuke latched a hand firmly onto his shoulder, black eyes warning him to keep his cool. Which, as infuriating as it was at the moment, was probably the best move on Sasuke's part. Naruto needed to keep his boisterous nature at bay until they figured this out together, no matter how impatient spandex-wearing ninja were making him.

"It's certainly the more appealing option we have at the moment. Neither of you have the intel we are searching for, so there isn't any point in standing around outside of the village anymore. We're both feeling weary and could use a place to rest." Sasuke looked away from Gai then. "Come on Naruto."

With that, the Uchiha began making his way past the gates and into the village. Naruto faltered for a moment before shrugging and going after him.

Once the gates were closed and they were all inside, Rock Lee and his long-time sensei circled around back to their posts for the day.

"Until the next time!" Lee smiled jovially, waving at the pair.

Naruto felt guilty for the less-than serene attitude he'd taken up against them in the heat of his astonishment, leading to the slight wave and return of a smile of his own. Sasuke, on the other hand, continued to walk down the stone path as if nothing was going on behind him, neither walking too quickly nor waiting for Naruto to catch up to him.

That damn Uchiha. Friendly as ever.

"Can we just take a moment to figure out what the hell just happened back there?" Naruto half-asked, half-commanded upon catching up to his friend, grabbing hold of the other's pale wrist to prevent him from moving forward.

Sasuke snapped towards him at the contact, obsidian eyes resting on Naruto's obtrusive hand that held him in a tight grip before flickering up to give him a venomous glare. "We can talk as soon as you let go of me."

Naruto rolled his eyes and let go, scoffing slightly. That bastard had always had personal space issues, although he seemed to always be extra sensitive whenever it was Naruto who was touching him.

"Fine, whatever. Let's go sit on that bench over there." He pointed at small bench sitting in between two cherry blossom trees and didn't wait for any sort of affirmation from Sasuke before slumping down onto the semi-old wooden seat.

A few seconds later he watched as the Uchiha took a seat beside him, albeit uncomfortably as the smallness of the bench forced their thighs to touch slightly. Naruto resisted the urge to tease him about it and settled for once again looking serious.

"I think you're wrong."

"What?"

"I think you're wrong. About what happened to us. Rock Lee and Maito Gai have clearly not aged since the last time we saw them, and you and I both know that the only person that has knowledge of an anti-aging jutsu is Orochimaru. I highly doubt he would share such information with anyone, much less those two bakas.

"I only accepted your theory because it was the only lead we had earlier. But now I've thought of an alternative that could just be correct, but we don't have enough information yet to even begin to prove it."

For the most part, Naruto was still confused as hell, but he at least got the gist of what Sasuke was saying. "So you mean you think you might know what's really going on with us?"

Sasuke nodded, shifting a bit in an unsuccessful attempt to increase the space between them and let out a small sigh.

"Well then what the hell are you waiting for? Tell me!"

"It's not that simple, Naruto. I already told you it's not for certain and we have a lot of investigating to do before I can confirm any of my hypotheses about this place."

"Why bother telling me if you don't plan to reveal anything! Seriously bastard, you really need to work on this whole communication thing if you want us to be able to cooperate more," Naruto growled in exasperation, throwing his hands up into the air irately.

The raven shrugged. "In my opinion, the more you keep your mouth shut, the less I'll be tempted to end your constant babbling by strangling you."

"Why you-"

"Hey, what's with all the noise you two? If I didn't know any better I'd think you were an old bickering couple!" a feminine voice inquired from the street, causing the hairs on the back of Naruto's neck to rise with fear and shocked recognition.

"S-Sakura-chan? But..! You too?" Naruto interjected when he turned to find a pair of mint-green eyes waiting for him.

The pink-haired kunoichi's soft smile turned into a confused frown, her brow furrowing at his words. "What do you mean, baka? Is that how you greet old friends on the street?"

Naruto couldn't help himself from staring at her with wide eyes despite knowing that he should have expected everyone else would be here if Lee and Gai were. It was getting increasingly difficult for him to take into stride all of the bizarre happenings of that day, and this was sort of what he considered to be the last straw before he really snapped.

The incident with Lee and Gai had definitely weirded him out. Shocked him, even. But seeing two people you didn't spend most days with in a strange place wasn't nearly as impacting as finding someone who was completely familiar.

Naruto knew that his whole future theory was wrong according to Sasuke's reasoning and therefore was a bit more prepared for this, but it didn't take away from the bewilderment he felt at seeing his female teammate so suddenly and it almost made him want to throw up. Here he was in a village that was supposedly Konoha but in no way resembled the one from his memory and yet he and Sasuke were apparently the only sane ones that knew something was amiss. The only concern Sakura seemed to even have at the moment was Naruto's strange behavior, which didn't really count since technically she was the one acting weirdly.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer but then promptly shut it when Sasuke gave him a look insisting he would take care of the situation.

"Don't pay him any mind; he hardly got any sleep last night and he's acting a bit delirious now as a result," Sasuke said offhandedly, hardly spending a moment to spare Sakura a glance before standing up to offer Naruto an impatient hand.

"Come on dobe, you're leaving all of us a little concerned about your mental health and if I don't get a warm bath and a place to sleep that doesn't involve waking up with several sticks in my side I think I just might strangle you after all."

Naruto had caught on pretty quickly to Sasuke's attempt at an escape from further contact with people here, and it hadn't really surprised him when Sasuke had opted for the asshole approach as opposed to say asking nicely. But Naruto wasn't as eager as Sasuke to get away since in his opinion, talking to Sakura could only help them learn more information about this strange Konoha. Sure, considering the shock he was currently still feeling and his inability to remain as composed about all of this as Sasuke seemed to be able to, one would think that he would be feeling at least a little more reticent about sticking around to speak with Sakura than Sasuke was, but Naruto found that it actually wasn't the case.

He was just as eager as Sasuke to get answers, which perhaps was the reason for his lack of reluctance at the prospect of staying. It definitely freaked him out to think of the possibilities of this alternative place, but he had learned from past experiences that it was always better to be in the know of something rather than remain in the dark.

"You know teme, now that you mention it, I am more hungry than I have been in a while. In fact, I seem to remember that you lost a bet with me in the woods earlier that involves you buying me lunch and I think this is the perfect opportunity to get some grub. Ichiraku's sounds perfect right about now. Care to join us Sakura-chan? I promise the bastard will pay for you too in order to make up for lying to you a few seconds ago. Isn't that right Sasuke?" Naruto asked the Uchiha with a smug smirk, knowing he had probably just earned himself an angry beating to be carried out the moment he and Sasuke were alone again, but not particularly caring. Naruto knew he was probably the only person in the world that could handle and even manage to evade Sasuke's wrath. But even when he failed, he also knew that he was the only person in the world that could take Sasuke on if he resorted to violence.

"Uh, sure Naruto. I have nothing else going on at the moment and if Sasuke-kun's paying then I'm all for it," Sakura accepted with a wry grin directed at Sasuke. However, as what seemed to be turning into something of more than mere coincidence, Sasuke surprised him with somewhat the opposite of the expected reaction.

"Hn. As far as I'm concerned you cheated. But whatever. I'll let you live with the guilt that you managed to rid me of all the money I have by unjustly demanding that I pay for your spontaneous ramen cravings."

"I did not! I got here way before you did and you know it! Besides, I couldn't care less if you are broke. Just gives me another reason to cut your ego down to size since you're no longer filthy rich," Naruto replied almost automatically. Truth be told he was used to this kind of banter with a clear undertone of aggression with Sasuke, so without even thinking about it he had replied like he would have under normal circumstances. Which was definitely something Naruto was grateful for, especially whenever the Uchiha managed to throw him off no matter how innocuous the reason.

He received a raised eyebrow from his friend along with that look that promised certain death. "Usuratonkachi."

"I definitely agree with you there Sasuke-kun, but let's get a move on or else we're gonna stay here exchanging insults all day," Sakura cut in before Naruto could indeed call Sasuke an asshole, resting her hand and his shoulder in a slightly threatening manner.

Quickly catching on to her hidden message, Naruto nodded and marched forward, allowing the hunger that he had, until then, been suppressing since they'd gotten here take over.

* * *

Walking through the village was something of a novelty, considering everything looked exactly as it had before Pain had obliterated just about every structure during their fight. As if that weren't strange enough, everyone in this fake/strange Konoha was excessively nice, to a point where Naruto was left throughly creeped out. He'd bumped into a stern-looking man and had expected to be hit with some kind of insult before being completely shocked when the man had brushed off his apology and bid him a good day. Since when had random strangers on the street become so carefree?

He couldn't figure it out for the life of him, which, for about the hundredth time since he, Sakura and Sasuke had starting walking, led him to wonder just what exactly had been the thing to alert Sasuke of a new possibility concerning how they'd gotten here. It was quite exhausting, trying to figure out the Uchiha's line of thought on top of dealing with with this place that was his so-called home.

He nearly jumped when Sakura's sharp voice snapped him out of his pondering.

"Hell-o, Naruto, I just asked you a question," she said, impatiently smacking his shoulder.

"What? Oh, uh, sorry Sakura-chan, I was just daydreaming. You know how caught up I can get when I think about stuff," Naruto apologized hastily, trying and failing to mask the nervous undertone in his voice as he scratched the back of his head.

"I didn't know you were even capable of thinking with that thick skull of yours," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes while managing to look amused. "I was just saying that we hardly get to spend time alone together anymore. You never did finish telling me how it went with Sasuke-kun the other night, and now that I get to eat with the both of you I'm glad that's gonna clear up. Bet you really enjoyed spending all that alone time with him during the mission." Sakura waggled her eyebrows then, giggling at Naruto's perplexed look.

He paused at the strange wording of her phrase but spoke nothing of it, not bothering to ponder too long what her words might mean as the first part of her statement distracted him from it.

"What d'ya mean by that Sakura-chan? I always spend time with you! Or at least, I used to..." Naruto stopped himself before he could say anything more, recalling that Sasuke seemed to want both of them to play along with whatever occurred for now. "Ah, forget that last part. I meant to say before I started getting assigned to so many missions."

The pink-haired kunoichi shook her head in amusement as she fell into step with him, Sasuke still ahead of them by a few strides and therefore not within earshot. "You know as well as I do that's such a lie. You've been spending so much time with Sasuke-kun lately I'm surprised you two haven't moved in with each other yet."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. "What's that supposed to mean? I can hardly be around the guy for about a minute until a fight breaks out between the two of us."

It was Sakura's turn to look confused as her green eyes gazed up at his. "Sure, it used to be that way, but that was ages ago. Don't get me wrong, you still fight more now than any one else in the village ever will, but it's different from before."

Naruto blinked at her. This conversation was starting to get really weird, for one because it seemed that everyone really did have memory of them that involved all the time they'd supposedly been absent, and two because Sakura was making it sound like he enjoyed being around Sasuke a little too much.

He opened his mouth to further question her about her weirdness but stopped the moment his eyes landed on the stand he liked to call heaven. Ichiraku's stood before them, large gleaming letters proudly announcing today's special on miso ramen and making his thoughts stop altogether. A loud growling in his stomach reminded him there was an endless supply of delicious ramen waiting for him inside the stand. He sprang up from his spot beside Sakura and zoomed off into the shop in record time, plopping down into his usual seat and flashing a bright smile at a now stunned Ayame.

Strange conversations about him and Sasuke could wait.

Sasuke and Sakura caught up to him a few seconds later, both contemplating whether they should be disgusted or relieved at the fact that he was back to his old self again.

Meanwhile Naruto made quick work of ordering a plethora of miso ramen bowls, all meant for himself.

"Will that be all Naruto?" Ayame asked, a hopeful tone in her voice as she spoke.

"Uh, probably. Depends on how hungry I am after I finish that order..." Naruto scratched the back of his head as he trailed off, chucking nervously. "Anyway, where's old man Teuchi? He sick or somethin'?

Ayame returned his hesitant smile, inwardly sighing at his predictable appetite. "He's off in town somewhere buying more supplies. We heard you were coming back from a long mission and thought it would be a good idea to stock up on our inventory, you know, just in case."

Naruto laughed at that. "You guys know me so well."

"That's not a surprise. If you're not with Sasuke-kun then you're here. This shop is more of a home to you than your actual house," Sakura sighed, taking the seat on his left and leaving the other for Sasuke to sit in.

"Again with that Sasuke nonsense? I told you Sakura-chan, we don't exactly get along well when alone, I can assure you." Naruto frowned at the pinkette, moving his gaze from her only when Ayame set his first bowl of ramen down in front of him.

"Enjoy."

"Thanks. I most certainly will." Naruto picked up his chopsticks and immediately brought the bowl up closer to his mouth, using the chopsticks to regulate the flow of ramen into his mouth. Sakura wrinkled her nose at the loud slurping noises coming from his throat.

Meanwhile, Sasuke finally took his seat next to Naruto, pointedly ignoring the blonde altogether as he settled his elbow down onto the bar and rested his chin in his hand, head turned opposite of the blonde and gaze fixed on the stand's wooden walls.

"What would you and Sasuke-kun like for today?" Ayame asked politely, looking sorry to interrupt Naruto and Sakura's conversation as she directed her question to the kunoichi.

"Ah, I think I'll have one bowl of miso without fishcake," Sakura replied with a smile. "What about you Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke briefly flickered his gaze over to the young waitress. "Whatever is fine, I'm not particularly craving anything at the moment. Just one bowl." His reply was curt and not quite as polite as Sakura's, but it appeared that the waitress was accustomed to this kind of behavior from him and seemed unphased as she nodded and wrote their orders down on a small notepad.

Once she turned to begin cooking again Sakura turned back to Naruto, slight confusion drawing her pink eyebrows together.

"What's wrong with you today Naruto?" she lowered her voice,"just a few days before you left you confided in me how you really feel about Sasuke, but now you're acting as if it never happened."

Naruto put his now empty bowl down before him on the bar, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and already eyeing the second bowl that Ayame had brought for him. "Sorry, but I honestly have no idea what you're talking about Sakura-chan," he said earnestly. "I mean, yeah, the guy's the best friend I could ever ask for, but I don't think that was ever much of a secret."

Naruto heard Sasuke 'hn' at the mention of their friendship, but no other sounds escaped the Uchiha as he continued to sit silently with his head comfortably in his hand.

Sakura stared at him. "I don't know whether to think you hit your head pretty bad somewhere along the road or if you really are that vacuous."

By then Naruto was already half-way through his second bowl of ramen, momentarily pausing to glower at her for the quip before returning to his happy slurping.

"I guess I have no choice but to spell it out for you. I would've preferred a more private place to talk about this, but it seems you've left me no choice Naruto." Sakura leaned into the side of his face, breath tickling the shell of his ear as she parted her lips to whisper,"Don't you remember that day at the hospital when I was on my break and you admitted you thought you were in love with Sasuke-kun?"

The contents of Naruto's mouth flew out into the air as his breath violently hitched in his throat, preventing him from swallowing properly and forcing the partially-chewed ramen out from his open mouth.

"What?!" he squawked, blue eyes bulging as he whirled himself around to gawk straight at Sakura, who was busy trying to regain her hearing as he had yelled right into her ear. His moment of shock had attracted the attention of both Ayame and Sasuke, strange looks mingled with slight suspicion on Sasuke's part aimed at him as he tried to get a grip on his sanity.

"Is something wrong Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked from the stove, her attention pulled away from the boiling pot of ramen noodles in front of her.

"No, no, it's nothing," he assured her once he regained his breath, a voice in the back of his head that had somehow managed to retain a calm state reminding him that there were still a lot of things they needed to figure out about this new Konoha, including how their friends had memories of them from just weeks ago when the village had changed so dramatically. Whatever they remembered, all of that stuff was fake. The real him and Sasuke had just woken up that day in the meadow without any memory of this place.

Plus, there was absolutely no way he could ever feel that way about Sasuke. They were best friends for fucks sake! Although Naruto considered himself a pretty open-minded person that had no issues against homosexuality or anything like that, he had never, not once, been even remotely attracted to another guy. As far as he knew, he'd been straight his entire life. The only thing that bothered him was, why in the world would the fake him say such a thing?

"Okay then, if you say so..."

Naruto nodded appreciatively, forcing a small smile at the brunette and then looking back at Sakura. "Can we talk about this later? I think you were right when you said we probably needed a more private place to speak of this." Only after he finished speaking did he dare sneak a look at Sasuke, but he instantly regretted it when he found the Uchiha intently staring at him. He had that look on his face that meant he was concentrating hard on trying to figure something out, which was just about the last thing Naruto wanted right then.

"Yeah, sure Naruto. You know, I think you need to get some sleep; you've been acting awfully strange today." Sakura moved around in her chair in order to face Sasuke. "Do you wanna take him home alone or would you prefer I went along just in case he keels over or something?"

Sasuke didn't answer for a few moments, eyes lingering on Naruto before moving to look at Sakura. "That would be the smartest thing to do given the condition he's in."

"I don't know what you guys are talking about, I feel fine," Naruto protested, doing his best to keep up the act despite the amount of emotional turmoil he was going through at the moment.

"I'll have none of that, baka! You're coming with us even if I have to drag you by your ears." Sakura held out her hand to emphasize that she was serious, her usual temper flaring back to life the moment she sensed opposition in him.

"Okay, okay, I give!"

"Then get your ass up off that stool and start marching!"

* * *

In the end Naruto had been roughly picked up and practically thrown out of the shop; landing face-first on the dusty patch of dirt laid out before the entrance. To his surprise, Sasuke had actually made good on their bet and paid for all three of them, waving off his attempt at thanking him by saying Naruto probably hadn't been carrying money with him anyhow. Which had been true of course, but he still felt bad about Sasuke actually paying.

Not that what Sakura had told him didn't have Naruto feeling a bit wary around the Uchiha now, but after realizing there really was no point in feeling awkward around him since he hadn't actually said any of that he'd felt a lot better. In all actuality, he was feeling normal again as they walked side-by-side just like they'd used to back when they were Team 7; but the feeling of comfort and nostalgia hadn't lasted long as Sakura led them down a sidewalk that he was certain would lead them in the opposite direction of where his apartment was situated.

"Uh, Sakura-chan, no offense but I thought you were taking me home? My apartment is way on the other side of town."

"Apartment? What are you talking about Naruto? Last time I checked you hadn't moved out of your house yet," Sakura said, giving him his millionth funny look of the day.

"House? Are you sure-"

"Don't expect everyone to be as dense as you are, dobe. We all know you're bluffing. All you're doing is hurting your pride," Sasuke neatly interrupted him, elbow inconspicuously jabbing into his side as he spoke.

He experienced a moment of befuddlement before catching wind of Sasuke's words, inwardly sighing at how mysterious he was being about the whole thing. Why couldn't he just make up some excuse to get Sakura to leave them so he could explain?

"You know what, now that I think about it, I am feeling a bit dizzy," Naruto declared, rubbing his forehead with his fingers for good measure.

"I knew you were more hurt and tired then you were letting on! All the more reason to get you home quickly!"

* * *

Why they were standing at the entrance of the Hokage tower was completely unbeknownst to him.

Naruto had been growing more suspicious by the moment as they'd kept walking nearer and nearer to that place; but now as Sakura almost ripped the doors off their hinges since he had no key, he had no idea what to think anymore. What's more, Sasuke was being no help at all, shaking his head every time he tried getting information out of him in a discreet manner so their female teammate wouldn't catch on.

Just before Sakura could break the door down however, another loud female voice could be heard behind the wooden entrance. The woman sounded vaguely familiar as she yelled for whoever it was to quit banging on her door and back off before she broke their face and sicced the ANBU on them.

Blonde eyebrows furrowed in concentration as Naruto tried to figure out where he'd heard that voice before.

His question was answered when the door was ripped open from the inside to reveal a mane of fiery-red hair.

* * *

**A/N**: _Okay. Wow. Completely random update literally months after posting this story. To whoever had been hoping for a quick update to this: I AM SO SO SORRY AND I PROMISE THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN. My motivation to write was sucked up and gone for a long time, but now I'm back permanently! (You know, hopefully.) I really really hope you guys liked the new chapter and I'll be back with more soon (probably in a month or less). Much love for you all!_


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto had a hard time not choking on his own saliva at the sight of his mother at the door, her face scrunched up in anger and a taut fist clamped at her side.

"M-Mom?"

"How dare you show your disrespectful face in my house at this hour!"

Before he knew it, a brain-rattling blow nearly knocked him unconscious and caused him to stumble back a step, hands grasping at the hem of Sasuke's sleeves and only succeeding in worsening his equilibrium as the former shoved him away.

It took Naruto a second to process it, but when the realization that he had been hit by Kushina finally registered in his mind he found it impossible to hold back the insane burst of laughter that erupted from his throat as soon as the world around him stopped spinning and he was left to gape up at her from the bottom of the porch.

His deceased mother was standing before him, apparently alive and well as her eyes widened at his peculiar behavior. And not only that, but she had hit him, again! Just like the first time they'd met when he had been training with Killer Bee to control Kurama on his strange island.

"What is wrong with him?" Kushina asked no one in particular, her eyes still focused on Naruto's trembling frame as he went through a literal mental break down.

He experienced a sense of déjà vu as he again as his brain flooded with questions about what exactly could have occurred to land him and Sasuke in this impossible scenario. How could this be happening? Why in the hell was his mother alive, and why did Sakura seem to be sure that he, Naruto, lived with her in the Hokage's mansion? How was it possible that this Konoha was so familiar yet so utterly not?

Before Naruto could start demanding answers, Sasuke once again prevented him from saying anything and chose that moment to intervene.

"I didn't want to say anything before since I hadn't quite been sure, but I think Naruto may have eaten the wrong plant on our way back to the village and its effect is moderately hampering some of his cerebral functions. If it's all the same to you two, I'll take him back to my place and treat him there."

Sakura perked up at that. "Of course we don't mind, isn't that right Kushina-sama?" She gave Naruto's mother a meaningful look, failing pitifully at her attempt to remain discreet as she tried conveying the double-meaning of her sentence through her mint-green eyes.

Kushina looked completely confused at that point, but she nodded her consent anyway after giving Naruto a once-over. "Yeah, sure, it's fine Sasuke-kun. He was late for dinner anyway and I've already cleaned everything up so he isn't going to be getting any food from my house today. Perhaps you two aren't too late for dinner at your home though, which would be preferable since I won't have to feel guilty about leaving my baby boy without food for the rest of the night. Though I'd still prefer to punish him by letting him starve for the remainder of the day, I suppose I'll let him go with you since he's sick anyway."

She turned to Naruto then. "You're lucky I didn't do anything more to you mister! I'd even taken the time to prepare a special dinner in celebration of your return, but you just had to go ruin that didn't you, Naruto!"

By then Naruto had managed to calm himself down enough to remain passive and silent, but his mother's angry lecturing still took him by surprise anyway. "Uh, yeah. Sorry about that mom, I'll be sure to get here extra early next time," he apologized, arm rubbing at the back of his head as he looked at her and hoped she was buying his act. No doubt if he didn't do his upmost to quickly recover from his earlier breakdown and maintain a calm façade Sasuke would have his head.

The breath whooshed out of him as he found himself completely encased in a flurry of arms wrapping around his midsection, red hair blocking his view and filling his nose with a scent closely resembling that of cinnamon-spice.

"Oh how I missed you, my little ball of blonde sunshine! You had me worried and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to see that adorable smile of yours before I went to bed today. Don't you dare be late like that again, unless of course you want to be punched a second time." Kushina warned into the crook of his neck, the warmth of her hug sparking a blooming warmth in Naruto's chest that he couldn't help but lean into.

He couldn't believe anything that had happened today, but there was no way the warning bells in Naruto's head compared to the sensation of this woman, his mother, who by all means was supposed to be long dead, wrapping her slender but strong arms around him, living and breathing. It was completely impossible, and yet, there she was, hugging him like Naruto had always dreamed he'd be hugged by her.

The day he'd finally gotten to meet her through the chakra that had been sealed inside him he'd thought that was it; he was never again going to see her loving face and beautiful red hair. As a child Naruto had learned to accept the fact that he would never have a family to come home to like all the other children. He'd known it all those times he watched the other kids get picked up by their parents at the Academy while he walked himself home to his dingy little apartment; he'd known it when his birthday meant nothing to him except a promise of deep loneliness on a cold night; and he'd known it every time he hurt himself and no one was around to kiss his tears away and lovingly cover his wound with a simple band-aid.

For so long he'd resigned himself to the desolation of life on his own that Naruto had convinced himself it had been for the best; having no parents around had forced him to grow up quickly and turned him into the strong person he now was. It was a lie of course, but one he'd fabricated in order to numb the pain that constantly ebbed away at his heart. It was no wonder he felt as if this was some kind of absurd dream that had taken it much too far by bringing his mother into this. She was one of the few things he had begged every god he knew of to bring to him for most of his life, and as he stood there reveling in the feel of her soft green dress creasing underneath his hands and refusing to vanish despite his desperation for this to all have been an illusory reverie, Naruto was unable to fathom what kind of jutsu had the kind of power to bring even Kushina to existence once again.

Sasuke knew. Or, at the very least, he had come to a conclusion that he seemed relatively confident of. And as much as Naruto wanted to stay in Kushina's arms for the remainder of his life, he had to know too. Had to know why all of this was happening.

Had to know if she was, in fact, now a permanent part of his life.

At that moment Kushina loosened her bear-like embrace on him and craned her neck sideways to make eye contact with Sasuke. To Naruto's irritation, the smug bastard seemed amused as he watched him struggle to breathe in his mother's arms.

Naruto was so going to garrote him with his own stupid rope-belt thing the second he got him alone for not saying anything yet.

"You better take good care of my son Sasuke-kun. Considering how stupid he can be sometimes, I know you're probably the only reason he hasn't died of something equally stupid, like, poison ivy or something. It's why you're my second-favorite person in the world!" She smiled, somehow going from protective to offensive to grateful all in the same sentence.

Naruto frowned at the 'stupid' comment, but internally smiled at the fact that she seemed to really like Sasuke and felt so protective over him. It meant that two of the most important people in his life got along nicely, and if that wasn't an upside to the entire mess he didn't know what was. None of it made any sense, but at least now he knew Sasuke was about to enlighten him as he went to go 'treat him' wherever he supposedly lived. Naruto was still going to choke him, though.

"Hn, I don't think you know how correct that statement about his survival skills was," Sasuke replied, a smirk building up around his muted pink lips.

Naruto quickly growled his resentment, barely abstaining from flipping Sasuke off when he remembered his temperamental mother was standing right beside him.

"Teme! I'll have you know I did just fine surviving without you those three entire years you were gone!"

No one bothered to ask about the 'strangeness' of Naruto's words anymore, blaming it on the miscellaneous plant he had supposedly eaten during their mission.

"Well, off you go then. If you're not spending the night at Sasuke's you better be back by midnight," Kushina warned mildly, wagging her index finger right in his face.

"Okay Mom, don't worry about me, I'll be fine!" Naruto grinned. However it was that she had gotten here, he figured he'd have to take what he could get and use this time he had with her to show his appreciation (not that he particularly liked her rough treatment of him, but he would gladly take it every day if it meant she would never leave).

She smiled back at him, taking the tip of his nose and lightly squeezing it between her thumb and forefinger in a gesture of affection. Naruto noticed as Sasuke stared past them and into the horizon, not wanting to ruin their moment by staring. But his efforts to lengthen Naruto's time with her were proven vain when Sakura cleared her throat two seconds later to get everyone's attention.

"I have somewhere I need to be, so I'll see you guys around," Sakura said, giving all three of them a little wave as she began to walk in the other direction. "Oh and Naruto," she stopped in her tracks, turning back to eye him meaningfully,"have fun tonight." A small snicker escaped her lips as she skipped off.

Naruto found his face heating up when he realized what she meant by 'fun', his blue eyes immediately widening in horror. Kushina chuckled as she walked back inside the mansion, winking at Sasuke when he looked at her in confusion and then shutting the door behind her.

Naruto, on the other hand, wanted to die on the spot. Curse whoever had banned people to leave random gallons of bleach out on their doorsteps because at that moment, all he wanted to do was take one and pour it onto his brain so he could wipe away what he'd just heard. Just how screwed up were people's minds here?

"What did she mean by that, dobe? Judging from the look on your face, you figured it out pretty quickly. Care to elaborate?" Sasuke asked, clearly trying to fein nonchalance as he fiddled with one of his armbands.

Naruto gulped. "Uh-h, how should I know? She was just creeping me out is all," he shrugged, trying his best to sound casual. It was obvious by the unimpressed look Sasuke was giving him that he wasn't being very convincing, but to his relief the Uchiha decided not to push it.

"Idiot."

"Che, you're just acting all pissy because you don't wanna accept the fact that there are things you will never discover about the world."

"At least I possess the capacity to learn such things. You, on the other hand, can hardly describe the difference between the sun and the moon."

"Oh yeah? Well at least I don't keep life-threatening secrets that take priority over everything else going on right now to myself until my lazy duck-butt decides it's ready to shed light on such information!" Naruto countered loudly, glaring at the Uchiha in an accusatory manner.

He waited for Sasuke to defend his choice of action when he abruptly stopped walking mid-stride, coal-black eyes taking a quick survey of their surroundings before leading Naruto to a patch of green that sat along the sidewalk across from the Hokage tower. Sauke waited for him to sit down before he did, sinking down into the cushiony grass almost hesitantly.

"Fine, if you really want to know, I'll tell you," Sasuke began after a moment of eyeing Naruto's silhouetted form as he fidgeted underneath the orange glow of the setting sun.

"Tell me the last thing you remember during our fight with Madara."

Naruto cocked his head, confused by the question. "How is that relevant to any of this?"

"Obviously whatever happened then was the catalyst for us ending up here, usuratonkachi," Sasuke said, visibly restraining himself from rolling his eyes at Naruto's question.

"Oh. Right. Well, I remember standing around waiting for you to hurry up and assess our next plan of attack and then arguing with you about it," he paused, replaying the fuzzy scene in his head, "and then Madara said something that I didn't quite catch."

Sasuke blinked at him, gesturing with a hand for Naruto to go on upon realizing he didn't intend to continue speaking.

"That's it. I don't recall anything else. Next thing I knew I was waking up in meadow to you slapping me around." Naruto stared at Sasuke dumbly, not really sure where the Uchiha was trying to go with all of his questioning.

"I don't slap people Naruto, I'm a goddamn ninja not an angry schoolgirl," Sasuke clarified with a glare, letting out a small huff of irritation before momentarily shutting his eyes and then reopening them. "Whatever, that's beside the point. Do you mean to tell me that you have no recollection of what happened after Madara spoke to you? In particular, of what you saw immediately following this interaction?"

Naruto nodded, racking his mind for any additional muddled memories as he picked at a dew-moistened blade of grass. The gleaming water droplet reflected the lasting red tinges of sunlight rimming the edges of a few lingering clouds, reminding him of a similar sight on much larger scale. The moon had seemed unusually luminescent and spherical during the battle, though Naruto thought it to be an unimportant detail to mention and wouldn't have mentioned it had it not been for the fact that a feeling of uneasiness grew inside of him the more he thought about it.

"There was one thing, I guess. The moon looked pretty weird, like it was much closer than it should've been and it had this creepy red glow to it that I'm pretty sure I've never seen before. Was there an eclipse or some other astronomical shit like that?" he asked Sasuke quizzically.

He'd hit the jackpot it seemed. The corners of Sasuke's lips were slightly raised in what Naruto guessed was the closest the Uchiha would ever get to an eager look.

"Finally, I thought you'd never figure it out."

"Figure what out?"

"The moon is the key to everything. You were a moron and went on and ogled it despite Madara having practically told you he had finished his preparations for the Infinite Tsukoyomi. I tried calling out to you to get you to turn around before you could look, but I was too late and by then you had already been sucked into his spell."

Naruto was more confused than ever now. Sasuke's retelling of events definitely sounded familiar, but they just didn't add up. If Madara had really completed the Infinite Tsukoyomi by the time he had looked at the moon, then it would have to mean he had been put under the genjutsu and should have been a zombie in a fictional world he was not aware was fictional.

But he wasn't. Naruto was perfectly knowledgeable of the fact that everything in this Konoha was screwed up and unnatural, and though admittedly everyone else seemed to be convinced nothing was amiss, Sasuke was also perfectly aware of this fact.

"Not to burst your bubble or anything Sasuke, but if you're trying to say what I think you're trying to say, it doesn't make any sense. We're not slaves to the strangeness of this place and nothing's as perfect as it should be. Madara said this genjutsu was supposed to make our every dream come true, but I'm obviously not Hokage here, and," he paused, blushing a bit,"Sakura-chan isn't my girlfriend."

He knew it was stupid to feel embarrassed about basically making it known dating Sakura was amongst his most prominent of dreams, especially to Sasuke, who no doubt knew better than most how he felt about her and probably gave no shits about it anyway. But it felt wrong somehow, and he just couldn't shake the feeling of not having spoken the truth. It was absurd; Naruto knew exactly what he felt and there was no way he was lying about loving Sakura. He admitted he hadn't really had any time to think about furthering his relationship with her to something closer towards romanticism in the three years he had been completely focused on Sasuke, but he was positive nothing on the subject had changed since he was twelve.

Naruto decided none other than the fake Sakura was to blame for his strangeness. After all, it had been her acting all creepy whenever she mentioned Sasuke and then implanting the idea in his head that he somehow harbored unrequited feelings of non-platonic love for him.

For a while Naruto had managed to convince himself he would no longer dwell on the matter, but the reality was he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it the entire walk to his "house" and even now as he talked about an undoubtedly much more imperative matter with Sasuke. The worst part of it all was that he couldn't bring himself to feel repulsed or even slightly apprehensive at the thought of him and Sasuke together in that way.

Naruto shook his head vigorously, not at all liking where his mind was going and deciding to cut his thought process short before it could tread dangerous and undesirable waters.

He could tell Sasuke had in fact felt amusement at his own discomfort, a small smirk twitching upwards on the Uchiha's lips. "That's awfully pretentious of you to think she'd want to date you even as a slave to Madara's will."

Naruto crossed his arms, giving Sasuke an envious pout. "You only say that because Sakura-chan's always wanted you, more than anyone else. It's not my fault my biggest competition is a stupid bastard with looks that shouldn't belong to a mere human being."

He hadn't meant for his comment on Sasuke's naturally captivating appearance to come out as a compliment, but there was no doubt it had sounded like it, and now that Naruto thought about it, that was another thing about Sasuke. There was no way he could deny that on many occasions he'd marveled at Sasuke's completely effortless beauty, and though it had usually been out of jealousy, he found looking at the Uchiha almost never failed to stir a surge of adrenaline in his system. It was similar to how he'd felt when observing Sakura as a kid, except with Sasuke it lasted longer and made him feel hyperaware of the latter's every movement. It was definitely confusing, which was why when Naruto had discovered this fact a while back on the day he'd found Sasuke in Orochimaru's hideout, he'd buried it away into a far corner of his mind and refused to touch upon it further.

"Yeah, well, you're an idiot for thinking that."

Naruto blinked up at Sasuke's cryptic words. "Why do you say that?"

Sasuke sighed, running a hand through his silky black hair, the smirk gone as quickly as it had come. "Good looks can be disadvantageous in that respect. I have never seen Sakura—or anyone else for that matter—in a romantic light. Her persistence is in no way appealing and nearly drove me towards killing her on numerous occasions when I was in an... unstable state of mind. I was able to tolerate that behavior during our genin days because I cared about her as a teammate, but with that bond severed later there was really nothing holding me back from ending her life and ridding myself of a useless nuisance.

"Although I suppose there had to be something else depriving me of the incentive to actually go through the with it," Sasuke added almost hesitantly, as if just arriving to this conclusion himself.

Naruto stood up suddenly, arms flying to his sides and fingers flexing into fists as if restraining themselves from making any further movements.

Sasuke eyed him questioningly from his spot on the grass.

"I can't believe you," Naruto ground out, his voice shaking with the effort of not rising louder. "I know you said you cut off all your ties with us for the sake of your vengeance, but can't you make the slightest effort do not sound so indifferent about her—about us—now that things have changed? I know you still care about Sakura on some level, however minimal, and I know you can't mean that. She truly suffered because of you Sasuke, and for that she deserves more from you than this, this hatred you seem to harbor towards her for loving you. Do you have any idea how lucky you are? To have people like her and me that have always opened our arms to you despite the evil you perpetrated? She deserves to have that love returned to her tenfold, not to have her feelings mocked behind her back like they're no better than trash!"

Naruto didn't know why Sasuke's words had made him so angry, but he was pissed, and he needed Sasuke to understand. It was unbearable for him to sit there listening to the Uchiha speak of nearly killing the girl he harbored affection for as if it didn't particularly bother him, with more ruthlessness than Naruto had heard from Sasuke in a while.

He was taken off-guard when Sasuke stood up too, rising to face him in such proximity Naruto could feel the wisps of breath rushing out of the other's body onto his own whiskered cheeks.

"I never asked for her attention or love, however pitiful her version of it is. You can't possibly expect me to ride off into the sunset with her out of gratitude for a childish crush that's been blown severely out of proportion and a tendency towards stalkery that accomplished nothing but a serious invasion of my privacy. I find it grossly ironic that you love to preach about honesty and following the path your heart paves for you, and yet here you are, emulating Sakura's behavior by attempting to shove her feelings down my throat without stopping to consider how I could never reciprocate them on any level, not earnestly. You can't force this on me simply because you know you can never have her and hope to use me as a tool to make her happy, Naruto."

Sasuke looked close to shoving him or attempting to use some other method of force against him, but restrained himself at the last second and instead gave Naruto a look that portrayed both fury and almost... hurt.

Before Naruto could speculate further on it, Sasuke opened his mouth to speak again, this time his voice returning to its usual apathetic tone.

"I am not some kind of prize to be won and I owe nothing to Sakura. I never lead her on and made my standing on the subject quite clear. She chose to inflict that pain on herself and I refuse to take responsibility for something I had no part in. I was never active competition for you and if you really wanted her so you would have had her by now Naruto. I'm no simpleton; I know things did change and she no longer loves me that way. Last I witnessed she seemed to really admire you and you were completely blind to it."

Naruto flinched at Sasuke's biting words, not even attempting to deny his claims. There was no point. Sasuke was completely right. Naruto had been lying to himself for a long time now, but for what reason he could not gauge. He still cared about Sakura deeply, but it had ceased to be romantic and his stubborn mind had refused to believe it, blaming it instead on his preoccupations with returning Sasuke to Konoha.

Sasuke moved so as to turn away, but Naruto quickly shot his hand out to clutch his shoulder, holding him in place with a firm grip. "You're right. I'm a piece of shit for even trying to tell you who to love and treating you as an object. I don't—I don't actually love Sakura anymore." Naruto squirmed underneath Sasuke's smoldering gaze. "Haven't for a while. But she's still special to me, and I won't just sit idly while you insult her to your heart's content, especially when I know you don't mean it. I'm sorry, for whatever it's worth. It wasn't fair of me to attack you like that."

He let go of Sasuke's shoulder then, letting his arm fall to his side, cerulean eyes remorseful.

Sasuke observed him in silence for another minute, pale face passive and betraying nothing of what the Uchiha felt.

Naruto felt a jolt of shock electrify his nervous system at the pressing of two fingers against his, the sign of equality between two shinobi. The contact didn't last; Sasuke's slender fingers slipping out of Naruto's hand as quickly as they'd come.

"Don't apologize, usuratonkachi. We were both out of line."

Naruto could do nothing but nod, the sensation of Sasuke's touch still searing through the veins of his hand like liquid fire. He was quickly faced with another shock at the sight of a slight tinge of pink slowly spreading across Sasuke's cheeks as they stood there, the sole indication that the action had in any way been embarrassing for the Uchiha as well.

"Okay," was all Naruto said, trying his absolute hardest to ignore the small fluttering of his heart.

* * *

After their little spat Sasuke and Naruto had decided to sit down and resume talking about Sasuke's theory, choosing to refrain from further speaking of matters that were frankly extremely uncomfortable for Sasuke to talk about.

He almost couldn't believe how relatively easy it had become for Naruto to rope him into putting his feelings out in the open after years of almost total silence on Sasuke's part. The worst part was that Sasuke didn't even think it had anything to do with his resolve on the matter weakening somehow. It was like Naruto had simply adjusted to accommodate his passivity now that they had spent more time together in a day than they had in the past three years, the former of which unnerved Sasuke greatly.

Naruto's new enlightenment pertaining to how to get him to speak his mind had caused Sasuke to say things he hadn't even realized himself prior to speaking, and so far what he had found out did not sit with him well at all.

Not to mention that he could not fathom what had possessed him to touch Naruto earlier; as if he had ever cared to give the blonde any sort of reassurance before. The impulse to do so had been so strong Sasuke had been powerless to stop his hand from moving, and the embarrassment that had come afterward would never allow him to live in peace again. Damn that Naruto and his infuriating ability to move anyone he came into contact with.

"Returning to the incident with Madara, you say you finally remember looking up at the moon, correct?" At Naruto's "hm" of affirmation, Sasuke continued. "And it seems you were actually listening when Madara explained the basic mechanics behind the Infinite Tsukoyomi. It's true that in one's dream world everything they've ever desired is supposed to take effect the moment they've been ensnared inside the genjutsu. However, neither your desire nor mine to be Hokage has been granted here."

Naruto interrupted him there, holding up his hand to stop him from continuing. "Wait a minute, you were being serious when you said you wanted to be Hokage?"

"You're not the only one that sees how self-destructive and flawed the ninja system is. I've never thought your fantastical illusion of becoming Hokage someday and magically joining the five great nations with nothing but a tear-filled speech and slap on the back was realistic in any way. Such a feat will take a severely complicated network of calculated tactics and intelligent risks, none of which you're capable of formulating on your own," Sasuke said bluntly.

Naruto of course was offended by this, getting cut off himself with a shake of Sasuke's head. "None of this is important at the moment. You're the one who kept bitching about wanting to hear my theory, so you'll just have to shut the fuck up and listen until I'm finished."

The blonde looked ready to retaliate but stopped himself at Sasuke's warning gaze, settling for plopping down onto his back with an irritated growl instead.

"Fine whatever, I don't even care anymore, asshole."

Shifting to settle his hands between his crossed legs, Sasuke ignored Naruto's comment, opting to continue as if the other hadn't spoken.

"In addition to that, there are many other yearnings of ours that have not been carried out. Of course we have not had sufficient time to make a thorough analysis of what exactly has been left out, but there is enough to discard the Infinite Tsukoyomi possibility."

"That's pretty much the conclusion I came to," Naruto spoke up from the ground. "But if it's not that, then what is it?"

"That's where it gets complicated. Given the aforementioned information coupled with both of our conscientiousness that many things are out of place, my previous argument still stands. But it doesn't take away from the fact that your mother, who should no doubt be dead, has somehow risen from the grave. Inclusively, no one here seems to remember that I have been a wanted criminal for a long time now, and everyone appears to be horrendously kind. In addition to that, Sakura made zero attempts to grab my attention or make a move on me."

Naruto's face was becoming more and more pensive the longer Sasuke spoke, to a point where it was almost comic.

"What are you getting at, Sasuke?"

"Everything I just mentioned is a combination of things both you and I would respectively want in our own ideal versions of Konoha."

"Right. Okay. And that means?"

Sasuke sat up straighter, bracing himself for the denial that was sure to come from Naruto the moment he voiced his conclusions.

"When you looked at the moon, there is no doubt in my mind that the Infinite Tsukoyomi had already been put into effect by Madara, which means you had to have been affected by it, regardless of your new yang power. But if that had been the case, I wouldn't be here in this alternate reality with you—at least not my real, conscious self. If you paid attention to Hagoromo when he explained the power he granted us, you understand that yin and yang are two halves of one whole. They're interconnected, with some of yang's light penetrating yin's darkness, and vise versa. This no doubt means our souls have also been tied to some extent. It explains our ability to speak to each other via mental communication when fighting.

"When you were caught in the genjutsu the tie in our souls tugged my consciousness along with yours, causing our dream worlds to coalesce into a combination of the two to form an entirely new and independent dimension. The only way to explain our awareness of being trapped lies within our connection; the balance between our yin and yang powers allowed for mental stability between both of us, and no doubt it's strong enough to last for as long as we're confined to the Infinite Tsukoyomi. So, although that power does not suffice to free us from the genjutsu altogether, it is resilient enough to maintain our consciousness despite our being subject to the remaining functionalities of the spurious dimension."

Sasuke carefully watched as Naruto slowly sat up on the grass, features void of any emotion.

"That actually... makes sense."

To say he was taken off guard was an understatement. Given how dramatically Naruto had taken to acting ever since he and Sasuke had woken up in the meadow, Sasuke had definitely expected a much more denial-filled reaction from the blonde.

"Come again?"

Naruto leaned forward, shifting a tad closer to where Sasuke sat with his arms draped over his bent knees.

"This whole time my mind has been struggling to come up with something to explain all of this with," Naruto gestured at the Hokage tower in front of them," and you've finally given me just that. I really didn't wanna believe or even consider it at first, but deep down I just knew Madara had something to do with our situation. I mean, who else could possibly be powerful enough to do this to us, especially after Hagoromo's bestowal of our new powers?"

It took all he had for Sasuke not to look even a little bit shocked at Naruto's apparent hidden ability to analyze circumstances on a much deeper level than he'd ever let on.

"Nice dobe, you actually managed to impress me for once. Got anything else to add to that astute observation?" Sasuke mocked teasingly, not wanting to give Naruto the impression that he was actually being serious with his compliment.

Naruto glared at him. "Yeah, I just realized you're an even worse asshole than I though you were five minutes ago."

"Good. That's just one less aggravating fangirl for me," Sasuke found himself quipping yet again, for good measure.

At the panicked expression on Naruto's face, Sasuke smirked. "What, was I getting a little too close to the truth there for you, Naruto?"

He'd meant it in a jocose manner of course, but when Naruto continued to sit there with nothing but a half-hearted glare and what suspiciously resembled a blush, Sasuke began to feel a little panicked himself. While he knew he had clearly missed something critical during the brief time he and Naruto had spent with Sakura, Sasuke was sharp enough to have determined her last words to Naruto held some underlying meaning, he had refused to even ponder whether it held any sexual equivocation. But given Naruto's suspiciously evasive behavior both when Sasuke had questioned him about it at the mansion and now after he'd simply made a joke, Sasuke was no longer so sure.

Even if Sakura had meant it in that way, why would Naruto react like that? It wasn't as if it was typical of the blonde to start acting bashful the minute anyone teased him about such matters, especially not when it involved Sasuke of all people. Unless there was another factor causing him to act that way. After all, after their little private conversation at Ichiraku's, Naruto had seemed quite baffled at Sakura, not to mention he had made quite a show spewing the contents of his mouth while they had still been eating. Obviously it had been a result of Sakura saying something that took the other totally off-guard, but looking at him now Sasuke concluded she must have told Naruto something extremely upsetting. Could it be that it also had something to do with him?

Considering the fact that this strange behavior seemed to escalate in Naruto at the mention of him and Sasuke, it was a definite probability.

Sasuke broke out of his thoughts when Naruto finally let out a nervous laugh.

"You wish teme! Like I would ever stoop so low as to ogle your ugly ass."

At any other time Naruto's comment would have seemed harmless and even natural, given what Sasuke had said to him previously, but at that moment all it caused was the tension in the air to thicken and become even more uncomfortable.

"What exactly did Sakura say to you to make you so nervous all of a sudden?" Sasuke asked in spite of a voice in his head warning that he would probably be better off leaving it alone and not knowing.

Naruto's mouth opened and closed silently, a sign that Sasuke's question had struck him unexpectedly.

"I don't, um, know what you're talking about, exactly?"

At Sasuke's unimpressed look, Naruto finally deflated and let out an exasperated groan, a tan hand reaching up to roughly card through tangled blonde locks.

"It's just... it's really weird and unsettling and frankly kinda creepy and I'd rather keep it to myself if I could. It's, ah, actually super private stuff, and I know I'm always saying that you're my best friend and all but it's kinda too much too soon, ya know? It'd be better for the both of us if I waited and told you when we're more comfortable around each other," Naruto said pleadingly, looking for all the world like he needed for Sasuke to believe him as if his life depended on it.

Sasuke exhaled a small sigh of his own, deciding to heed the voice in his mind and letting the matter go for now. Certainly not because Naruto could be exceedingly persuasive every time the need arose and Sasuke just happened to be especially susceptible to his techniques. He was just learning to embrace the more rational part of his brain.

"Fine, whatever, usuratonkachi. As long as it doesn't interfere with my plan, it isn't important."

At the look of utter relief washing over Naruto's features, Sasuke almost wished he hadn't given the matter up. He usually prided himself in managing to remain completely disinterested in the lives and secrets of others, but on this occasion he couldn't rid himself of a sinking feeling that doubled as extreme curiosity on his part.

"Trust me Sasuke, when I finally do tell you, you'll be totally grateful I spared you from knowing right off the bat," Naruto assured him with another nervous chuckle. It ended prematurely however when the blonde seemed to recall something in the middle of his laugh. "Did you say plan?"

"Obviously now that we've come to an agreement on our current status, we have to start searching for any possible means of escape. Unless you planned on staying here for the remainder of your real body's lifespan?"

"Well no, of course not, but I mean how do you plan to do that? We don't even know the boundaries of our chakra use in this place—if we have chakra to use at all. Our knowledge on the Infinite Tsukoyomi is modest at best, and we have no idea what's going on in the real world right now. Where would we even begin?" Naruto demanded, a look of genuine loss now completely dominant of his features.

"Given that it's an extremely complex jutsu that no doubt took years for even Madara himself to comprehend thoroughly, you're right about how slim our chances of escaping this place are on our own," Sasuke began, obsidian eyes watching emotionless as Naruto grimaced at Sasuke's affirmation of their undesirable odds, the blonde taking to looking away from the Uchiha and absentmindedly tearing small clumps of dampened grass from the ground with his fingers.

"That's why it's a good thing we won't be working alone."

Sasuke frowned at the loud ripping noise that erupted as a result of Naruto pulling too hard on a particular chunk of the green stalks and causing a sizable amount of dirt to become upheaved along with the plants' roots.

"We won't?"

"Assuming the rest of this dimension's inhabitants that we are acquainted with in the real world have retained the personalities we preferred them to have, we shouldn't have too difficult a time gathering an elite, trustworthy group to help us work out all the kinks in our future escape."

It was Naruto's turn to be impressed at Sasuke's keen thought process, blue eyes gazing at him with such open admiration it made him squirm a little in discomfort.

"I don't know where I'd be if I didn't have you here with me, Sasuke. Honestly, nothing like that ever even crossed my mind. It's brilliant, in the end, we'll be using Madara's own jutsu against him!"

Ignoring a weird rush of giddiness that ran through him at Naruto's words, Sasuke nodded. "In theory, yes. Anyone here with training should be able to answer all of our questions and help us work through them. As for our starting point, I think we should prioritize learning as much about this jutsu as possible before we try anything else."

Naruto nodded in agreement, standing up with new determination and offering Sasuke a hand to help him up.

"You're right. No matter what we can't go doing anything without being completely aware of what we're up against. But where do you think we can get all this information?"

Sasuke stared at the hand blankly for a moment before opting to accept it, not missing the quick squeeze Naruto gave his palm just before letting go.

"What place other than the Uchiha compound would have more answers about one of their own clan's forbidden jutsus?" Sasuke asked rhetorically, flexing his leg muscles in discomfort as he noted a new soreness in his ass from sitting on the ground for so long. One look up at the sky affirmed it was already well after nightfall, the soft chirping of crickets and distant sounds from the village square the only discernible noises in the air.

"Right. The village looks exactly the way it did before Pein destroyed it, so I'm guessing in this reality he never attacked it in the first place and the old Uchiha compound is still intact," Naruto noted. Upon Sasuke's lack of response, the blonde continued,"Heh, you know what really pissed me off in the aftermath of that attack? The elders of the village unanimously decided they wouldn't bother with building a new Uchiha compound, and Tsunade did absolutely nothing about it. I was so angry I wouldn't speak to her for days. But I guess what I was actually mad at was the fact that you would no longer have a home to live in if I ever managed to get your stubborn ass to come back. Stupid, right? After all, it wasn't as if I couldn't just have gotten Yamato to build you something once you got there."

Naruto looked away from him then, sniffing casually, as if what he had just confessed was no big deal. For some reason that really bothered Sasuke, to the point where the need to reassure the other was suddenly so overwhelming he was rendered powerless to stop himself from opening his mouth to speak.

"It wasn't stupid, dobe. That place—it was meaningful to me in more ways than one. You probably knew that, and that's why you fought so hard to bring it back. But it's gone now, and I suppose there's nothing we can do about it." Sasuke was having a difficult time fighting back the blush that threatened to creep across his cheeks, quickly breaking eye contact with Naruto and turning his back to him in order to conceal his face from him. It was dark out, but the lamppost standing just a few feet away cast a glowing yellow light that would've no doubt given him away.

Sasuke couldn't help feeling asinine in the silence that ensued, sure that at any moment Naruto would break out into a happy dance at Sasuke's honesty or do something equally embarrassing. But as several seconds ticked by with nothing more than continued silence, the embarrassment slowly turned into a more worrying disappointment, at which Sasuke panicked.

What the hell should he be feeling disappointed at? That Naruto was acting out of character because he wasn't rejoicing at every sign of Sasuke possessing a working human heart that could pump out the occasional whisper of empathy? How self-centered and greedy was that? It shouldn't matter to Sasuke what Naruto chose to do or not do at any given time. On the contrary, he should've been grateful at the blonde's lack of enthusiasm. But no matter how much Sasuke tried denying it, he wasn't. He felt irritated and cheated; he'd made the effort to share something personal with the intention of having a positive effect on the other, something he never ever did for anyone, and when it hadn't worked, he was pretty angry.

Naruto couldn't possibly expect him to keep things like this up of he was going to choose to simply brush them off as he would with anyone also. He knew Sasuke didn't work at all like everyone else did, and though he would never admit it out loud, a huge part Sasuke allowed Naruto inside his head at times was because he knew the latter would always react supportively. Yes, it was selfish as hell on Sasuke's part, but in his mind it was the only way. He'd been hurt too many times to trust openly without stipulations—of which he knew Naruto was probably the only person that was aware.

He'd been on the brink of turning back around and punching Naruto for his inconsiderate behavior when a warmth unlike anything he'd experienced suddenly spread itself across his neck, shoulders, back, and arms, a gust of hot breath ghosting over the shell of his ear freezing him in place.

"Thanks Sasuke. It means a lot to know it wasn't just me acting selfish." Naruto's raspy voice was only a whisper, but for Sasuke the blonde may as well have yelled into his ear with the impact it made.

Try as he might, the Uchiha could do nothing but stand there, warmth coursing through his veins in spite of the chilling breeze thanks to Naruto's tight embrace. The sound of a woman yelling in the Hokage's tower across the road, Sasuke was finally able to regain control of his limbs, wasting no time in tearing himself from the tan arms holding him from behind.

"What the hell was that for, usuratonkachi!"

Bewildered and confused at the erratic beating of his heart, Sasuke nearly laughed hysterically at Naruto's response.

"Heh, what better way to thank someone than with a hug? It felt pretty nice when my mom did it earlier, so I thought why not do it to you?"

Honestly, the moron's naivety could be so infuriating at times.

"Never mind. Just, shut up."

The idea that the hug may have bothered Sasuke more than anything seemed to dawn on Naruto just then.

With an unapologetic grin, Naruto said, "What, did that make you uncomfortable, teme?"

"I'm sure anyone would be left feeling less than pleased after having been touched by you," Sasuke muttered back, still working to clear his expression of any lingering shock.

"Sure Sasuke, whatever makes you feel better."

"Isn't there something more productive you should be doing right now?" Sasuke snapped, eager to steer the subject of the conversation away from him.

"Like what? People are going to sleep right now, and I doubt anyone would be all that eager to help us out in the middle of the night. I say we wait until tomorrow to head over to the Uchiha compound."

"I'm not saying we should go right now. There's another equally imperative source of information just a few meters away, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind staying up a bit later than usual in order to help his son out of a fix," Sasuke pointed out, jutting his chin out to bring Naruto's attention to the mansion standing behind him.

"Wha—nah, Sasuke, you don't mean my... dad, do you? We don't even know if he's here, it's possible that that part of my dream is limited to only my mother," Naruto said, seeming unsure of himself.

Suddenly more yells erupted from the place, muffled words making it sound as if there was some sort of argument going on inside.

"Didn't you think it strange that your mother is living inside the Hokage mansion when neither she nor you are owners of the title? Who else could she possibly be arguing with?" Sasuke asked with a sneer, shoving his hands inside his pockets in an attempt to warm them.

The effort proved vain, however, when only a moment later his arm was snatched into the air again and he felt himself being propelled forward with such speed and suddenness it was all he could do to keep himself steady and on his feet. The next thing he knew he was staring inches away from a familiar painted red door, the sound of the doorbell already ringing into the night.

"You are so dead," was all Sasuke managed to say before the door was opened, notably with much less vehemence than the time before.

"Dad!" Naruto launched himself at the stunned figure behind the doorframe, a small "oomph" echoing from inside as the force of Naruto's eagerness forced Minato back a few steps.

"Er, hi, Naruto. Glad to see you too," he eventually said, blinking as he patted his son's back.

"He's a bit delirious due to minor plant poisoning, but he'll be back to normal soon," Sasuke spoke up from the doorstep.

The older man raised his head in surprise, apparently just then taking notice of Sasuke's presence.

"Oh, didn't see you there Sasuke-kun. Now that I remember, Kushina did tell me something like that when I came down from the office earlier. I take it you both just came down from your house?" Minato asked with kind blue eyes that so closely resembled Naruto's it almost felt as if Sasuke were talking to him instead.

"Yes, actually. I felt it would've been wiser to treat him there."

"Can you not talk about me as if I'm not standing right here? It's kinda weird," Naruto said, directing his words mostly at Sasuke as he finally pried himself from his father's chest and then awkwardly stood off to the side, opposite of Sasuke. "Sorry Dad," he apologized, stumbling a bit on the word "dad" as if not used to saying such a thing out loud,"I've just been homesick for a long while. It's, ah, good to be back."

Minato smiled and Sasuke again marveled at the incredible resemblance between father and son. "It's good to have you back. Of course it'd be all the better if we could catch up inside where it's not close to freezing," he replied suggestively, beckoning at the space beyond the doorway.

"Of course. Come on Sasuke," Naruto agreed, widening the door to allow him space to enter.

"I don't think..." Sasuke trailed off, not wanting to outright say he may not be welch inside at the moment.

While he had intended for Naruto to stay for the night and glean as much information as he could, Sasuke had planned to roam the village square and hope he would run into someone that could potentially aid them. But of course, with Naruto as a factor, he could never expect for events to go exactly according to plan.

"Nonsense Sasuke-kun, you've always been welcome in our home. Kushina's already setting up the spare futon in Naruto's room," Minato insisted, quickly catching onto the reason for Sasuke's reticence.

Naruto beamed. "See teme? Stop being so shy and get your ass in here already."

"Fine." Sasuke nodded somewhat politely in Minato's direction and pushed past Naruto, making sure to discreetly dig his elbow into the blonde's side with more force than was necessary after removing his shoes.

Sasuke smirked at the sharp intake of breath, feigning ignorance as he surveyed the capacious living room sitting just beyond a winding wooden staircase. Contrary to what Sasuke had been expecting, the walls were painted a soft blue that complimented the mostly creamy white furniture and were decorated with numerous family picture frames. He was shocked to find that one of the frames contained a picture of him and Naruto as children, laughing in the sun as they splashed water at one another in what seemed to be a small lake.

"You and Naruto were only six then. Brings back a lot of old memories, doesn't it?" Minato said from beside the couch, notching Sasuke's lingering gaze on the hanging photo.

"Yeah," was all Sasuke responded, immediately tearing his eyes away and choosing to focus on the plush carpet beneath his bare toes instead.

Thankfully before the man could say anything more on the manner, Kushina's voice emerging from what Sasuke assumed was the kitchen captured both of their attention.

"That was fast! I was sure you two wouldn't be back until much later. Why don't you three take a seat? I'm making coffee if you guys would like any." The red-haired woman seemed a bit flustered as she entered the room, her hands absentmindedly wringing at a patterned tablecloth with such force Sasuke was sure it would rip in half.

"Well actually we were going to—"

"I see, I see. You two are tired from the mission and want to go to sleep. I already set up Sasuke's futon in your room Naruto," Kushina pursed her lips,"though I doubt you'll be using it."

All three males in the room looked at her in befuddlement until she shrugged. "Forget it, just go on if you really have to. Your father and I were having a discussion before you came along anyway."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow in understanding. So that had been the source of the hollering. Though he didn't think he'd heard Minato raise his voice even once during the argument, which made him realize that while he and Naruto looked nearly identical in appearance, the dobe was more similar to his mother as far as his boisterous personality went.

"Oh. Um alright then, I guess we'll see you in the morning?" Naruto said, visibly puzzled and unsure of what to do in a situation like this, which was no surprise given to his total lack of experience when it came to family matters.

"Goodnight sweetie. Sleep tight. You too Sasuke-kun," she waved, smile seeming a bit forced atop of her underlying anger.

"Night guys," Minato nodded, wary and not at all looking like he wanted to continue arguing about whatever it was the pair had been bickering about.

"G'night," Naruto grinned, obviously more than ecstatic at having heard those words from the two people he'd spent his entire life wishing he'd hear them from.

The blonde took an uncertain step forward, heading in the direction of the hallway leading out of the living room and further inside the house.

"Naruto, your room is upstairs, remember?" Kushina said, staring at the blonde's back curiously.

"I knew that," Naruto replied, swiveling around and walking briskly to the staircase, not even waiting to check if Sasuke was following after him.

"Plants," the Uchiha exhaled tiredly at Naruto's parents, moving to quickly follow him up the steps to avoid feeling even more awkward.

Once they reached the second floor and were out of earshot, Sasuke grabbed Naruto from behind, whirling him around to face him.

"What the hell was that, moron? 'Okay goodnight then'. What the fuck were you thinking? We came here to find answers, not have a sleepover and play house."

Now that Sasuke had time to think about it, he was actually pretty pissed at Naruto for having ruined their chance to find out some likely very important things, considering it was the Hokage's job to be knowledgeable of the forbidden jutsus protected within the village's confines.

Naruto looked completely taken aback by his irateness, apparently not having expected such an outburst from him.

"Look I was doing the best I could, okay? But it's just not everyday I get to stand in a room together with you and both of my parents. Hell, just a day ago I woke up doubting whether I would ever be able to do that with you again. But with my mom and dad? That's on a whole other level of impossible, so forgive me bastard but it was pretty damn difficult to concentrate and execute everything according to a plan you have yet to fill me in on."

Sasuke supposed Naruto had a point. It didn't mean he would stop being brash about it though. "Hn, you're still a moron. You could've just shut your mouth and let me do the talking if you were so overwhelmed."

"Excuse me for not being in the right frame of mind. Besides, it's not like we both can't use some sleep. You look like hell," Naruto noted.

"Yeah well so do you."

"That's exactly my point. We just have to figure out which of these is my room and we'll start fresh tomorrow."

Naruto walked toward to first door on the right, easing it open with his hand on the doorknob. After poking his head inside, the blonde exhaled and shut the door behind him. "Bathroom."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Look Naruto, I don't see the point in going to sleep when we're stuck inside a genjutsu, considering our real bodies are technically already asleep themselves."

Naruto scoffed. "You're seriously gonna tell me you're not feeling even slightly fatigued right now? Come on, stop being a stubborn bastard and help me out."

With that he approached the next door, again opening and closing it quickly as he was once again unsuccessful in finding his room.

Sasuke frowned as he trailed after him, refusing to go poking in doors but deciding to give in get some rest while he could.

"Aha!" When Naruto opened the fourth door, a look of triumph spread across his face. "This is definitely it."

Sasuke thought the same thing the minute he walked inside after Naruto, looking around him in distaste as flashy orange walls and several frog-themed miscellaneous items glared back at him. In addition to that, several empty ramen cups and dirty clothes were scattered across the large bedroom, a desk in the corner particularly cluttered with an assortment of what Sasuke assumed was all trash. A single queen-sized bed with blue covers lay beside it, mostly free of items save for two scrolls containing what seemed like complicated wind-style jutsus.

"Of course you would remain a slob even in the best of my dreams," Sasuke muttered, just then catching sight of a small futon lying at the foot of the bed. "Thank the gods I won't be forced to sleep on your repulsive floor."

"Shut up, you're just saying that 'cuz you're probably some sort of obsessive neat freak," Naruto shot back, though his spirits didn't seem to be dampening in the slightest. "I've gotta have some pajamas or something that we can use to sleep here in a drawer or something." The blonde maneuvered around the mess on the floor towards a set of drawers, opening them up to rifle around inside.

"Hey Sasuke, check it out! I've got like thirty coupons for Ichiraku's in here!" Naruto declared, clearly overjoyed at having found them.

"I'm pretty sure you're the only one that finds them interesting."

In spite of himself Sasuke moved to stand next to Naruto, easily looking over his shoulder and into the drawer to find that there indeed were numerous coupons inside, along with old pencils, spare change, and other nondescript things. It wasn't until Naruto opened the next one that they found haphazardly-folded clothes. He lifted a small pile and picked through it until he found an old t-shirt and sweatpants for himself, insisting he find something better for Sasuke on account of his "delicacy to cheap materials".

By then Sasuke had lost interest and simply shrugged, ignoring the quip and sinking down onto the soft bed. He didn't look up again until Naruto made a sort of choked gargle, holding in his hands what seemed like a light shirt and pants.

"What is it dobe?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing," the blonde replied in a flustered manner, unable to tear his gaze from the fabric in his possession. But before Sasuke could take them from him, Naruto held the shirt in Sasuke's face to see.

At first glance it seemed like an ordinary navy-blue pajama top, but as soon as Naruto flipped it around, Sasuke understood his confusion. Printed neatly near the neckline was a single Uchiha fan.

"Is this supposed to be... my shirt?" he asked no one in particular.

Naruto answered him anyway. "Unless I'm an Uchiha here, I'm pretty sure it is. I'm guessing you sleep over often, hah."

"Why I would ever return here voluntarily is a mystery I don't ever want to solve," Sasuke frowned, staring at the shirt as if it would burst into flames any second now.

"Come on bastard, you know you love me. Just put it on, it's not as if it's contaminated or anything. After all, it is technically yours," Naruto prompted, practically thrusting the article of clothing into his arms. "Knowing you, that shit's probably made of silk."

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at that. "Jealous much?"

"In your dreams!" Naruto snorted, throwing the matching pants at Sasuke's face and laughing when he didn't miss.

Sasuke quickly peeled it off, glaring at him menacingly. "It's so on, usuratonkachi." With that he picked up one of Naruto's pillows and chucked it right at his head, snickering when the blonde stumbled backwards into the drawer.

What ensued was an admittedly childish war involving the throwing of everything they could find within arm's reach, both taking cover as they chased each other across the room, glaring, snickering, yelling promises of revenge and running all over the place. It wasn't until Naruto tripped over an empty soda can almost fifteen minutes later that they finally stopped, the former laughing so hard at his fall tears were beginning to form at the corner of his eyes. Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle himself at the sight, not for a moment realizing that he hadn't done so since before leaving Konoha 3 years prior.

They finally settled and voiced their surrender, both collapsing onto their respective sleeping areas and panting loudly into the air.

"Hey Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Goodnight."

The sheets above him rustled as Naruto reached for the lamp beside his bed, clicking off their only source of light and then laying back in the darkness.

Sasuke shut his eyes, smiling ever-so slightly.

"Night."

* * *

_And I'm back at it again! Yes I am like a month late but to be fair this chapter is longer than usual(actually its almost double the last one) and I've actually had it ready for two weeks now, but I hadn't found the time to upload a new chapter until a few days ago, when I experienced a couple of technical difficulties. I do apologize for any mistakes though, I have yet to find a beta that works for my weird schedule. Also, looking back at this, I was all over the place with the plot so sorry for any confusion (especially with that last scene lol). As usual I hope you all enjoyed it ;)_

_P.S. I am reluctant to say when I will update again, but I'm hoping it won't take me more than a couple of weeks. If you guys haven't noticed yet, I post updates on my stories' statuses every so often on my profile, so make sure to check that out in like a week or so._


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